The Way of St. James is paved with culinary sins. The more, the better, one could say – because the opportunity to let go of the wrongs is there. Arriving at the longed-for destination of Santiago de Compostela, the pilgrims only have to confess the visits to the restaurants and tastings. Pilgrimage is full of deprivation. But does it have to mean renunciation?
Gluttony, opposed to the Christian virtue of moderation, is tempting in many places between the Pyrenees and Santiago. Resist? That has also become more difficult with Corona: In hostels where the newcomers could previously cook in the evening, the kitchens are closed almost everywhere to protect against infection for foreign users. That really forces you to look elsewhere.
Then it doesn’t stop with a simple pilgrim menu. The temptations of opulence await around every corner. And if you wander through vineyards in wine regions like Navarra and La Rioja, you will inevitably get the taste for immersing yourself in the product range.
The German monk Hermann Künig von Vach reported on this at the end of the Middle Ages and gave the following advice on the pilgrimage site of Villafranca del Bierzo: “Drink the wine with wise thoughts / because it burns the hearts of some people / so that it goes out like a candle. “Your own experience must have played into that.
Inner contemplation or not. Drink. feasting Sin – the Way of St. James makes it possible in many places. Sometimes everything is reduced to a hearty stop.
A cultural-literary pretext always pulls – so in Pamplona make a short detour from the Way of St. James to the main square to the “Café Iruña”: Ernest Hemingway was often a guest there and set a monument to the house in his novel “Fiesta”.
Just want a coffee or a glass of rosé? Oh, once you’re there, you can try the specialties right away: a portion of Idiazabal sheep’s cheese, a potato omelette. Or the lunch menu, although the price of 23 euros is a bit steep.
Why stay in the hostel’s orbit when the good is so close at hand in the Rioja capital of Logroño? That means: the Calle del Laurel, the “laurel alley”, one of the largest pub agglomerations in Spain. Bar after bar. The Rioja wine flows freely.
There is often urgent tightness, Corona or not. Each location has its own appetizer specialty: here a mushroom skewer, there pork cheeks, a few steps further foie gras on baguette slices. Typical is the constant change of pubs to taste where it is best – a pilgrimage of a different kind.
As an excuse, the restaurant “Piedra” is located directly on the pilgrims’ alley through Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Draw out seductive scents. Chef Carmen Urdina serves up potatoes Rioja-style (patatas a la riojana). They are boiled soft so that they can be kneaded well in the broth.
The spice depends mainly on the pieces of grilled pepper and garlic sausage (chorizo), whose aroma faithfully accompanies the pilgrim for the rest of the day. Address: Calle Mayor 54, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Telephone: 34941341569.
The region of Castile and León continues to be hearty: with the blood sausage from Burgos (Morcilla de Burgos), which is on the menu in many places in the city. In addition to pig’s blood, the skin contains rice, onions, lard and spices. Locals eat the sausage as a starter, in thin slices, grilled or fried.
The Maragatería region, which begins in Astorga on the pilgrimage route, is known for the Maragato stew (Cocido maragato). Strange that it is served in three courses. First the fished out pieces of meat and sausage. Then the vegetables. Finally the broth. Why it is like that? The best first, very simple. The liquid at the end is the most dispensable, it is said.
Anyone who manages to complete a portion of Maragato stew gives a kingdom for a nightcap: pomace brandy (orujo). Various restaurants in the stone village of Castrillo de los Polvazares, five kilometers behind Astorga on the Way of St. James, whet your appetite.
The Galician breast cheese (Tetilla gallega) is actually modeled on the female curve. This may seem sexist to strangers, but according to popular belief it is a secular protest against the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela.
In the inventory of figures in the Romanesque glory portal of the cathedral, the stone sculptors had once worked out the forms of Esther too strongly, whereupon the clergy had her chastely reduced. Since then, they have lived on in a creamy, soft form, based on cow’s milk, instead of in granite. Or harder if the cheese is smoked with beech wood. Eating cheese – as a form of sustained rebellion, so to speak: people like to join in.
It often happens that long queues form in front of octopus restaurants (pulperías) on the main road through the pilgrimage town of Melide. Or that the cook María José Souto in Santiago’s market hall restaurant “Pulpería Abastos” can hardly keep up: cook octopuses in huge tin pots, fish them out after half an hour, cut them into bite-sized bites over a wooden board, sprinkle paprika powder and olive oil on top. The octopus is ready the so-called fairground style (pulpo a feira). As a pilgrim, it’s easy to get caught in tentacles.
This is the real Jakob for everyone who likes it rich: the Jakobuskuchen (Tarta de Santiago) based on almonds. The crowning decoration is embedded in the topping made of powdered sugar: the sword cross of the Knights of St. James. In the Middle Ages they belonged to the Order of Santiago, which promoted the fights against the Moors and took care of the protection of pilgrims to St. James.
The pastry shops in the old town of Santiago exhibit the sweet sins in their showcases. Who could resist this temptation?
Try the scallops once – that’s a must, so to speak. After all, it is the symbol of all pilgrims. In the early days of the pilgrimage, her bowl served as proof of arrival in Santiago de Compostela.
What’s inside is a delicacy: soft, white meat that comes out of the oven au gratin in a bowl or – as in the “Abastos 2.0” restaurant near the market halls of Santiago – cut up into small pieces and lying on a small bed of vegetables.
In the old town of Santiago, these temptations are particularly sweet: chocolate scallops, en miniature or the size of the palm of your hand. The Argentinian couple Carina Gragnolati and Alejandro Racciatti produce the calorie bombs themselves. They called their shop with attached chocolate workshop “TeoAta”, a combination of Teodoro and Atanasio.
According to legend, these were the two disciples who, under adverse circumstances, removed the body of the apostle James from Jerusalem and brought it to the place from which Santiago de Compostela arose after the rediscovery of the tomb in the 9th century. “We wanted to be infected by their courage and determination,” says Gragnolati. It’s a good idea to buy a few more mussels as a souvenir – to share the sweet meal with loved ones at home.
visitnavarra.es
lariojaturismo.com
turismocastillayleon.com
turismo.gal
spain.info
The Germans want to go on vacation again. The German Travel Association also speaks of a ray of hope last summer in terms of bookings. And yet the industry is still groaning under the corona pandemic.
Source: WELT/Jan-Friedrich Funk
This article was first published in November 2021.
Participation in the trip was supported by the Tourist Offices of the regions of Navarre, La Rioja, Castile-Leon and Galicia. You can find our standards of transparency and journalistic independence at axelspringer.de/independence
