Melide's Best

The small town of Melide used to be a very important and prosperous pilgrim stop, but was several hundred years ago. Now it's a fairly uninspiring town. But it does have a couple of key elements no pilgrim worth her salt must ignore.

First, there is the cross in front of the St. Roque church. It is the oldest cross on the entire Camino, and one of the finest in Galicia no matter what age. Carved in the 14th century, it has withstood lashing Galician rain and scorching sun, pollution and economic collapse, and the gaze of millions of pilgrim eyes for almost 800 years, and yet its carving of the crucifixion and God the Father are still easily deciphered and detailed.

The other thing for which Melide is famous for is boiled pulpo. Why a landlocked town is famous for fresh cooked octopus is anyone's guess, but it is. So of course we had to try it.

We walked into on of the most popular pulperias and ordered a plate with a could of beers. A large cauldron boiled red with octopi, one of which was extracted, cut into chunks, then poured with olive oil and sprinkled with chili powder and brought to our table. Using toothpicks, we were thrilled with how tender and delicious it was: the outside so delicate it melted in the mouth, and the inside, white part, a little more substantial but tender and not at all chewy or rubbery, as some octopus I have eaten in the past, in other places, has been. The chili powder gave it a little heat, which was good, as pretty much the only spice we have experienced in Spain has been salt.

Apparently, on Sundays at noon, ladies park themselves on streetcorners with black cauldrons, serving rations of octopus from the pot. This being a weekday, we were happy enough to sit with locals and other pilgrims who crammed into this place with the black awning, a place that looks like it recently had to double in size to contain its dining audience.