After two months here in Vigo I found I was struggling to become fully immersed within Spanish culture. While I have a few fleeting friendships with local Spaniards, I live in an English speaking household with American girls, the majority of my close friends are American, and everyday I teach classes in English. Even though there are obvious cultural differences between the US and Spain, sometimes I feel as though I have never left the states. Despite the fact that I never encountered a great cultural shock upon my arrival --which some argue would be a good thing--, these factors have not allowed me to really step into and embrace the thriving Spanish culture surrounding me.
A couple weeks ago, one of my students from EOI named Antonia invited me to have lunch with her and to learn how to prepare some traditional Galician dishes. A week later, she picked me up at 1pm and we were off! For our meal we prepared a whole dish of mussels (mejilliones) for our starter, white fish (pescado blanco) as our main, and crepes to top off the meal. She told me that all of the seafood was caught fresh earlier that day right from the Ría Vigo. To cook the mussels we dumped them in a large pot --without adding any water-- and put a lid on top. Antonia told me that it was very important not to add any water to the pot as the mussels already have water inside of their shells . If more water were to be added, the mussels would be overcooked. Finally, when the shells popped open they were ready to eat! We cooked the fish on top of a layer of potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes, which were all gathered fresh from Antonia's garden. We sliced the fish on both sides and placed lemon slices in-between so the acid would help it cook faster. After hours of cooking, eating, and chatting in English and Spanish, I started to feel as though my time here in Spain was really just beginning. Towards the end of our lunch --however at this time it was 7pm-- Antonia invited me to spend the next Sunday with her friends and family where I could learn to cook more traditional dishes and practice speaking in Spanish. After such a wonderful meal and conversation with Antonia, I gratefully accepted her invitation.
A week later, and Antonia was parked outside of my apartment building once again! At 11am we began the preparations for our coming meal. We first prepared the cangrejo and nécoras --two types of crab caught in the Ría Vigo-- by boiling them in salt water. While the crab is dark purple in color before being cooked, the key to knowing when they are done is that after 25-30 minutes they turn a bright red color! Next, as the camorones --shrimp from off the coast of Spain-- were already cooked, we prepared them by steaming them over the boiling salt water we had used from the nécoras. While these were set aside for cooling, we cut up garlic and mixed it with olive oil which we used for the rest of our cooking. Unfortunately not pictured, we also prepared a large chicken dish for our meal. Antonia had butchered a couple of her own chickens for the meal a couple days before and we cooked them in the same manner as we had prepared the fish a week prior. While the chicken was put in the oven to cook, we started to prepare the cigalas --Norway lobster-- and zamburiñas --variegated scallops. Having cut the cigalas from tail to head, we spread our garlic mix on both the tails of the cigalas and onto the tops of the zamburiñas. These were both cooked on top of a hot metal grill. Antonia told me that the day before she had prepared some croquetas filled with cheese and mushrooms which we then fried in oil on the stove. At the same time we also prepared pulpo! The trick to preparing this delicate octopus dish is in the technique. First we brought the water to a boil and then--grabbing the octopus by the head-- dipped the hanging tentacles in and out of the water three times before placing the entire octopus in the water to boil. The dipping process curls the tentacles of the octopus so that it cooks more evenly. To know when the pulpo is ready to serve, it must be easy to puncture by fork or knife. Finally, after a long day of preparations, it was time to eat!
Antonia's family and friends made a huge effort by including me in their conversations, asking me questions, and making sure that I had tried at least one of everything. We spent the evening joking, drinking good wine, and genuinely enjoying each other's company. Even though I was stuffed beyond any American "lunch" I had experienced in the past, we finished off the night with a bounty of desserts her friends had brought and rounds of Spanish karaoke.
I feel so lucky to have made such great friends with Antonia and for her family to open up their house to me. In the future, I have plans to go fishing on their boat in the Ría and learn to make more traditional Spanish dishes that I can take home to my own family in the future. Although Thanksgiving just passed, I am still feeling beyond thankful for mi familia española.
¡Mi Segunda familia!
Antonia is the second from the left in el vestido azul
First Lunch With Antonia
(Pictured Top L: Plato de Pescado Blanco con tomates, patatas, y pimientos / Top R: Crepes de miel con café / Bottom L: Mejilliones / Bottom L: Pescado Blanco)
Second Lunch for Antonia's Birthday with Friends
(Pictured: From Top L to Bottom R: Cigalas / Zamburiñas / Cangrejo / Croquetas / Pulpo con Pan y Cangrejo / Camorones con Nécoras / Pasteles de Chocolate y Ferrero Rocher / Roscón de Reyes)
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