September 2, 2023 Lunch - Illia Island Octopus Gastronomy Fiesta. Dinner - Bonito Salad

September 2, 2023 Lunch - Illia Island Octopus Gastronomy Fiesta. Dinner - Bonito Salad

I sliced and peeled the three peaches we bought at the market several days ago and Suzette spooned yogurt onto them and I added a handful of trail mix for breakfast.

We then left for the Pulpo Gastronomy Fiesta on Illias Island when we arrived the tables and booths were just being st up so we decided to drive around the island.  We stopped at a lighthouse at one point and then continued around the island. One of the most common sights were rafts moored in the bay where mussels and other shellfish were raised.  The island was rather large and it took about forty-five minutes to drive around it.

                     A good view of the seafood production rafts in the bay

When we had circumnavigated the island we came to the port where there was a small market.  

I sat while Suzette walked it and then we walked across the street to a small bar named Barreles and took a seat and ordered a glass of Albariño.

When the waitress arrived with two glasses of wine, she also brought two small bowls in which there was a slice of baguette and a meatball in a bright orange tomato sauce.  We had been served a tapa with our drink. The meatball and sauce were considerably better than those the day before. These had a mixture of pork and beef, perhaps, veal, and were much more tender.

We sat and enjoyed the really delicious Albariño for about twenty minutes.  

Then we walked to the fiesta that were located on the promenade on the other side of the narrow two or three block wide isthmus where the the island narrowed. As we approached we bought a torta (pastry/almond cake) of Santiago for €5.

When we arrived we saw three large tents with seats and tables connected by small tents where tickets for food and beverages were sold and the food cooked.

We stood in line and bought tickets for a bottle of ribeiro wine, pulpo croquettes, mussels, and a plate of boiled and sauced pulpo with potatoes for €34.  Paella, grilled octopus, grilled padron peppers, tortilla Espanol and several other dishes were also offered.

I took the pulpo, wine, and croquettes to a table by the bay while Suzette stood in line for the mussels in which 20 lb. bags were steamed open in large cauldrons.

                                        The view from our table

Soon we had a plate of delicious steamed mussels also.  We did not like the ribeiro  wine because it lacked the bright acidity of Albariño and threw out half of our last glass after we finished our food, which was no great loss because it had only cost €8.

We walked back to the car and drove home and took naps until 7:30 when we walked for about 45 minutes to Restaurant Yayo in another old area of Cambados. Yayo is another Nove group restaurant but we could not get a reservation. 

We walked back to the apartment and on the way saw a beautiful complete rainbow and when we returned to the apartment saw a lovely sunset.

Around 9:00 Suzette combined the bonito in water, two hard boiled eggs, 1/2 of a cucumber, the three  remaining artichoke hearts, the two potatoes and pole beans and wax beans she had cooked in the morning, diced soft cheese, and half a head of lettuce to make a lovely salad. I made a rather wonderful anchovy dressing by cutting up four white anchovies and adding 1/2 tsp. of Dijon mustard, about 1/3 cup of olive oil and 2 T. of mayonnaise.

We ate and enjoyed our own cooking of fresh ingredients without any salt.

At 11:00 we were tired and went to bed after planning the next few days itinerary, including a call to Casa dos Martinez in Padron for a lunch reservation for tomorrow and an on line reservation at another Nove restaurant outside Vigo for Wednesday.

We are definitely trying the better restaurants.

Bon Appetit