Cocido is a cold weather Galician specialty, a hearty one-pot meal with all of the major food groups represented: Meat, Potatoes, Beans, and Greens. Oh, and with filloas, Galician crepes, served as dessert. Yes, that’s a nice balanced meal. In six visits to Galicia I had never sampled this local delicacy, but on my seventh visit, the goal was finally achieved on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the coastal city of Vigo.
We were staying at the swanky Gran Hotel Nagari Spa right in the heart of Vigo’s Valladares neighborhood along the wide boulevard lined with stately buildings and interesting sculptures. While asking about local sights and restaurants, the hotel staff mentioned that their own restaurant, Restaurante Alameda XXI, would be serving Cocido on Sunday. The restaurant had already been recommended to us by a chef friend in A Coruña, so the decision was easily made; we would relax and enjoy Sunday afternoon right in the hotel.
The restaurant’s luxurious modern décor contrasted nicely with the homey, traditional meal that was to follow.
As an aperetivo (appetizer), the kitchen sent out a tasty bite of cremoso de queso San Simón con membrillo y sesamo (creamy, smoky San Simón cheese with quince paste and sesame seeds).
Aperetivo – a taste from the kitchen: cremoso de queso San Simón con membrillo y sesamo
First came the caldito, a thin broth which is actually the cooking liquid of the Cocido, which contained short fideo noodles and finely chopped hard-boiled egg. The broth was quite light and subtle in flavor, a surprise considering the amount of pork in the actual dish.
The broth was nice, particularly with a nice piece of Galician bread, but it was just a prelude to the star of the show that arrived next: the Cocido!
An enormous dish with enough to feed several people was placed on a small table brought over just to hold it. All of the usual suspects in a traditional Galician Cocido, sprinkled with savory paprika, were present:
lancón – salt pork
jamón – cured ham
panceta – bacon
costilla – pork ribs
grelos – turnip greens
repollo – cabbage
garbanzos – chickpeas
patatas – potatoes
morcilla – blood sausage
lomo de cerdo – ham shoulder
oreja – pig ears
chorizo – spicy pork sausage
pollo – chicken
Where to even begin? Well, the logical way to begin is with a small taste of everything then go back for more of the favorites. My favorites were the ribs, ham shoulder, greens, chickpeas and potatoes. There was more of the caldo (broth) in the bottom of the pan, which was perfect when spooned on top of the tender boiled potatoes, easily mashed on the plate. Cocido is probably technically considered a stew since everything is cooked together in one pot, but the ingredients remain whole and don’t stew together as a soup or traditional stew might. Despite this is my only Cocido experience, I would say this seemed to be is a very fine representation of the genre.
As a general rule, filloas are served as dessert with Cocido. Filloas are light and thin Galician crepes. Delicious freshly made filloas filled with orange compote were served over a crema de naranja (orange cream) with toasted slivered almonds, and sprinkled with a light dusting of powdered sugar. A lovely light end to a hearty meal.
The weather on this day in Vigo was spectacular for October, so the outside seating area was filled with multigenerational families enjoying their Sunday Cocido. I look forward to trying other versions of Cocido in future visits to Galicia!
Date of Visit: October 22, 2017
Restaurante Alameda XXI
Plaza de Compostela, 21, 36201 Vigo, Pontevedra (map)
+34 986 211 140
Website: www.granhotelnagari.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/granhotelnagari
Instagram: www.instagram.com/granhotelnagari
Twitter: www.twitter.com/granhotelnagari
English spoken: YES
Called simply la patata (the potato) on the menu, these fried potato batons were topped with “ketchup”, a tiny fried onion ring, and edible garlic flowers. Pretty and satisfying.
El pescado del día, esparrago blanco amargo y salsa rojo picante (Fish of the day, bitter white asparagus with spicy red sauce and macadamia nut). The fish of the day was a lovely local San Martiño (John Dory), from the ría (estuary) that I could see from my window seat.
Why is it that things prepared tableside seem to taste better? Perhaps even better yet when they are smoked tableside. Filloa-fajita de ‘raxo’ adobado y ahumado was takeoff of fajitas using the Galician filloa (crepe) as the tortilla dotted with sauces and edible flowers then topped with intensely flavored Galician style marinated pork that received a final bit of smoke tableside. This may have been my favorite plate of the day.
Three (yes, three) seasonal desserts. First (bottom) cleverly presented balls of pear “caviar” with lime zest served in this ‘imitation caviar’ tin, even served with a mother of pearl spoon for effect. The dish at the top right was simply called ‘mandarin’, an extremely light and fluffy mousse-like concoction with an lovely fresh orange flavor. The top right was my favorite, though. Lianzo de primavera (spring canvas) was a beautiful mélange of fresh spring fruits topped with ice cream quenelles and more edible flower petals served on an actual canvas. I loved the fresh, light ending to this beautiful meal.
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