A Pilgrimage For A Tasty Visit

Lunch with friends we went to visit—Albariño and pepper from Padrón

Galicia, in Spain, is the home turf of Albariño wine and pimientos de Padrón. We went to meet them there.

BY » Trevor Burton | PHOTOGRAPHY BY » Trevor Burton

Without a shred of evidence I find that wine tastes better closer to where its made—no evidence but lots of experience. And, clearly, food is fresher and best prepared where it originates from. That’s what took us to A Coruña in Spain’s Galicia region. Galicia was, and still is, the destination for a major pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. But we were tightly focused. Our pilgrimage was to the home of a favorite dish and a favorite wine.

Thinking of Spanish wines, you think of deep, dark, red wines like Rioja or Ribera del Duero. And when it comes to Spanish vineyards, what comes to mind are desert-like, sundrenched conditions. Galicia, Albariño’s home, is the exact opposite of all this. Galicia, is on the northwestern corner of Spain, on the Atlantic Ocean.

In Columbus’ time this region was called, “the end of the world.” It’s amazing that grapes can grow, at all. The region has a mild, maritime climate. Its coastline consists of estuaries, called rías, and that everpresent ocean. The southern group of these rías is known as Rías Baixas (the lower estuaries). This is not exactly the ideal place to grow wine grapes but, somehow, it seems to work. Spaniards refer to Albariño as “the wine of the sea.” Galicia is historically known for its marine cuisine. Over many years, Galician winemakers evolved their wine to complement local food—in this case, seafood.

Seafood is king. In A Coruña there’s even a sculpture of an octopus on the waterfront and you can see cooked octopus in the windows of stores and restaurants as you pass by. But we were on another mission. Whenever we find ourselves in any Spanish city we head for a “pequeño restaurante”—a bistro. Once inside we, invariably, start our meal with an order of pimientos de Padrón. You can find something similar in many places around the world and around the US but the “real stuff” is available only in Spain. And we wanted to go right to the source, Galicia.

We wanted to get peppered. Pimientos de Padrón are a variety of peppers from the municipality of Padrón in the province of A Coruña, Galicia. They are sautéed with plenty of heat, plenty of olive oil, a pinch of salt,

and not much else. These peppers have an intense flavor—piquant, sweet, and a little nutty. How nutty we are about them? That’s why we went to their home town, to sample them on their home turf.

It can get exciting. About one in ten of the small green peppers is hot, while the rest are as mild as a green bell pepper. The exciting bit is that it’s pretty much impossible to tell hot from mild until you actually put one your mouth. Galicians even have a phrase for it—“Padrón peppers, some are hot, some are not.”

So, here we were in A Coruña to link up with our food and wine friends. We headed for the Praza de Maria Pita, in front of A Coruña’s impressive City Hall. And then to a pequeño restaurante on a small sidewalk—not a tourist in sight. There’s a whole story behind Maria Pita but that’s for another day.

Comfortably situated, we ordered a bottle of Albariño and a plate of pimientos de Padrón. We were on our way. When it came time for a main dish we put ourselves in the hands of our server and went for something local, a tart of ground beef and onions. It was all so simple and so superb. We were in our favorite environment, a small restaurant and some very local food and wine. Just a couple of food and wine pilgrims having a delicious time.

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With 16 years of experience at the agency, Zachary is able to assist our clients with their policy changes and billing inquiries.