Melide on the Camino Primitivo

Although it has been on the menu as far back as O Cebreiro, pulpo (octopus) doesn’t seem to garnish much attention until Melide. Despite its apparent disconnect with the sea, Melide’s thriving Thursday market meant that shipping pulpo was a profitable enterprise. It is served today as it was then: on a wooden plate, garnished only with a healthy drizzle of olive oil and a shake of paprika. It is eaten with a rather crude looking toothpick, alongside heavy Galician bread and a bowl of the local Ribeiro wine. One of the better places to try it is Pulpería a Garnacha, the last door on your left before you get to the main road in Melide.

Melide, long the crossroads between territories, is also the meeting point of the various camino routes which come from the north, including the part of the Camino del Norte and the Camino Primitivo. Because of this, and the proximity to Santiago, the road become a great deal more congested. The melindre is another of Melide’s favorite foods. It resembles a glazed donut and is sold from dozens of identical booths during festivals.