What Galician dish consists of boiled octopus with paprika and olive oil?

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What Galician dish consists of boiled octopus with paprika and olive oil? Pulpo a la gallega is the canonical Spanish name for this traditional Galician octopus dish.

In Galician, it is commonly called polbo á feira, meaning “fair-style octopus,” because it was traditionally prepared and eaten at rural fairs and religious festivals. The octopus is boiled, cut into pieces—often with scissors—and seasoned with coarse salt, sweet paprika, and sometimes hot paprika. Olive oil is drizzled over the top before serving.

Traditional cooks may dip the octopus briefly into boiling water three times before the full boil, a technique associated with curling the tentacle tips. It is often cooked in a copper cauldron and served on a wooden plate, sometimes alongside bread and young Galician red wine. The desired texture is tender but not rubbery.

The dish is especially linked with inland Galician provinces such as Ourense and Lugo, where preserved or transported seafood historically helped bring coastal ingredients to inland fairs. Frozen octopus is now widely used because freezing helps tenderize it. It is not the same as calamari, which is squid, or gambas al ajillo, which is garlic shrimp.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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