6 REGIONS DISHES WINES

Join us on a region-by-region trip through some of the very best food and wine Spain has to offer

- DAVID WILLIAMS

Pulpo Gallego (GALICIA)

1 octopus (2kg), cleaned and ready

1kg potatoes, cleaned and halved

sea salt Pimentón de La Vera (smoked)

good olive oil

Slowly simmer the octopus in a large pan of water for up to 40 minutes until tender. Let the octopus rest in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove and leave to wait in a bowl. Using the same water, boil the potatoes for 15 minutes. Strain, remove the skins, slice and arrange on a serving plate or wooden platter. Cut the tentacles into roughly 1cm pieces and arrange in a layer on top of the sliced potatoes. Sprinkle with pimentón and salt, then drizzle with plenty of olive oil. Serve with crusty bread.

Rías Baixas

My first visit to Galicia a decade ago was on a wine trip. Or so I had been led to believe. The invitation had come from the Rías Baixas regional consejo, after all, and, as I leafed through the schedule over breakfast on my first day, I found a list of producers' addresses that, put together, charted a mazy course around the fjords, estuaries and wide beaches of the home of Albariño.

But the first stop of the week was not a winery or a vineyard or a tasting room. Our hosts had instead decided to collect us from our hotel in the centre of the estuary town of Pontevedra and take us on a short stroll to the Lérez river waterfront to visit the Mercado de Abastos local central market.