A successful business (ad)venture

This blog is not just a business venture--it's not just about offering an unrivaled real estate investment. It's turned into a chance for me to reminisce and to share some memories, anecdotes and stories with my readers--anecdotes and memories related to the land that's been in my family for generations, to the place where my dad was born, to an incredible little fishing village called Caión. I so enjoy writing about the truths and tales I've been hearing all my life, like the (true) one I'm going to write about today.

Restaurant "Casa de la Fuente"

I'd like to tell you a little about the business that my enterprising mom and dad ran between 1955 and 1969 in Caión. When they married, my parents decided to settle down in Caión (my mom was from Lendo, a nearby village) and set up a small grocery store on the ground floor of a house located in the main square of this tiny peninsula. They began selling oil, sugar, flour and other basic food stuff during what were very hard times for Spain's population. My mom still remembers how they sometimes sold just a little bit of oil to a customer who simply could not afford more--maybe no more than 1/8 liter at a time.

Inside the café-restaurant

It turns out that my mom was a tremendously hard working woman and an excellent cook. My dad was also a hard-worker, but when it came to cooking, he knew better than to try a hand at the culinary art. They soon set up a new business in that same locale. They turned that small shop into a café, restaurant and hostel which eventually became as popular with tourists from Madrid and other areas of Spain or Galicia, as with the locals.

My parents' fish delivery truck

In one of my last posts I mentioned the popularity of my mom's Spanish tortilla and promised to upload her recipe, so here it is. But tortilla, although the most controversial, wasn't the only popular dish on the menu. She made other specialties such as seafood, tripe stew with chickpeas (callos), octopus, among others. Wedding parties were also celebrated at the restaurant. Their business became very successful and so well known that even an association of French chefs once wrote to ask if they could hold their annual convention at my parent's restaurant.

My parents' fishing boat

And regarding the hostel, they could boast of guests such as a cousin of the present-day king of Spain, H.M. King Juan Carlos I. Less illustrious but still fondly remembered guests include two very young geologists from Holland who spent four summers in Caión while they were working on their PhD. Caión was such an isolated place back then that I used to wonder how these people could possibly have got to know about it and about Casa de la Fuente. Perhaps the article I'm attaching here (there were others) can shed some light on the matter. Another mystery is how these people were actually able to reach Caión at that time. Roads were not like they are today and the way to Caión was one of the scariest in the area. No doubt the landscape and natural beauty of this unique spot, as well as the impressive cuisine were to blame.

The road to Caión is no longer frightening and the village is well-communicated, but luckily it hasn't lost its charm. Beauty in nature never fades. So why does ours?

Recipe for Galician Easter Bread

In Lendo, the tiny village in Galicia where my mom was born, the so called Easter Bread was made during the festivity of  St. Julian, the village's patron saint. The celebrations took place on January 7th, a day after the Epiphany. I guess that's why my mother associates the bread ring to St. Julian's festivity and not to the coming of the three magi, like in many other parts of Spain.

Lendo: the house where
my mom Clara was born

In the district of Bergantiños, where both Lendo and Caión are located, the typical dessert on any special occasion is the Easter bread in the shape of a ring or braid, accompanied by the typical mild cheese of Galicia. An exquisite combination!

Traditionally during Easter, godparents give their godsons and goddaughters Easter bread as a present. This Easter bread is made from the same dough as the Easter bread ring, but instead of giving it a ring or braid shape, they might be shaped like a loaf. According to my mom, lately (which in her terms means about 30 some odd years ago), these Easter loafs started to include a boiled egg in the center. Unfortunately for them, once they marry, godsons and goddaughters no longer receive this tasty present!

In case you'd like to savor one of the most typical desserts of Galicia--and of many other Christian cultures across Europe--you can download my mother Clara's own recipe here.

By the way, when my parents owned a restaurant and small hotel in Caión many years ago, people used to say that her Spanish tortilla was much better than the famous one from "As Casillas" in the small town of Betanzos, near A Coruña. But I'll leave that controversy (and recipe) for a later post.