* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
In the town of Pontedeume, in the north of the province of A Coruña, a manor that was for centuries owned by the counts of Andrade and Lemos, is the Priory dedicated to Saint Michael, on the summit of Mount Breamo. Inhabited from 1187 by Augustinian monks until the end of the 16th century, it then fell into the hands of the nobility.
Today only the Romanesque church remains, with a Latin cross and a vaulted nave with 3 semicircular apses and Cistercian influences on capitals and corbels.
Twice a year, May 8 and September 29, a pilgrimage is celebrated, much loved by the people of Eumes and the surrounding area. Tradition dictates that you walk the 4 kilometers up the mountain – there are now many who disobey and go up by car – and once you reach the church, walk around it nine times in silence (there are those who do seven or just three) to “ scare away the meigas”, scare away the witches… or ask the archangel for some grace….
Afterwards, to the sound of bagpipes and other music, the country meal, with family and friends, everyone with what they can, the salpicón, the breaded steaks, the steak or the tortilla with or without onion… and there are even those who order in a pastry shop – which jealously guards the secret of its recipe, brought from Italy in the 12th century by the Augustinian monks – the famous and very tasty Costrada, an exquisite delicacy, similar in appearance to an empanada, but with another dough and several layers of ingredients, various meats, ham, chicken… or fish, with turbot, scallops and other succulents…
Good and for dessert, with the glass of pomace, cherry or coffee liqueur, ladyfingers and almonds or special cake from Pontedeume, a town of ancestry, which is reflected in its estuary, looking at its bridge that the devil made in one night… but that It’s another story.
