A round wooden plate of sliced boiled potatoes topped with pieces of octopus, dusted red with pimentón, glossy with olive oil and scattered with coarse salt, toothpicks stuck in a few pieces

Octopus and Cachelos From a Tin, the Galician Fair Plate

September 26, 2026

Polbo á feira, "fair-style octopus", is served a simple way. Boiled octopus is cut into pieces and laid on a plate. It is finished with coarse salt, sweet pimentón with hot added to taste, and a splash of virgin olive oil. Laid over boiled potatoes, the ones Galicians call cachelos, it becomes dinner.

A whole raw octopus simmers for 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the recipe and the octopus. A tin of octopus has already been heat-processed as part of canning, so the only cooking left is the potatoes. That makes this the first recipe to learn with tinned octopus: it asks nothing of the octopus except warmth. Squid swaps in with one change, covered in the notes, and the wider category is covered in the tinned squid and octopus guide.

Ingredients, for two

2 tins octopus (about 110 to 120 g each), in olive oil with garlic or in garlic sauce
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) small waxy potatoes, skin on
1 bay leaf (optional)
Coarse sea salt, for the water and to finish
1 teaspoon sweet pimentón
1/4 teaspoon hot pimentón (optional)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Crusty bread, to serve

The tins that suit this plate are José Gourmet octopus in olive oil with garlic (shop José Gourmet octopus) and Ati Manel octopus in garlic sauce (shop Ati Manel octopus). The oil goes on raw, so use an extra virgin you like the taste of uncooked, such as Capezzana (shop Capezzana), and a crystal salt big enough to crunch, such as Burlap & Barrel Salina (shop Salina crystal salt).

Method

Boil the potatoes. Put the potatoes and bay leaf in a pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and salt it well. Bring to a boil, then simmer until a knife slides into the largest potato with no resistance, which takes longer at altitude.
Warm the tins, do not cook them. While the potatoes cook, set the unopened tins in a bowl of hot tap water to warm through. Do not heat the octopus in a pan; it is already cooked and only needs to lose its chill.
Slice. Drain the potatoes, let them steam dry for two minutes, then slice into rounds about 1 cm thick. Lay them in one layer on a wooden board or a warm plate.
Lay on the octopus. Open the tins. Cut any large pieces of octopus into bite-size lengths and lay them over the potatoes, spooning the oil or sauce from the tins over everything.
Salt, then pimentón. Scatter coarse salt over the plate, then dust with the sweet pimentón and the hot pimentón if using, tapping it through a small sieve or pinching it from a height so it falls evenly.
Oil last. Finish with the olive oil in a thin stream over the whole plate. Serve right away with toothpicks and bread for the oil left on the plate.

Notes and variations

The potatoes. Boiling potatoes and fingerlings are called waxy because they hold their shape when cooked, while starchy russets cook up drier and fluffier. Cook them until a knife goes in easily but before they start to fall apart. Salt the water well from the start; the finishing salt is there for crunch. Use the full three tablespoons of oil and all of the oil or sauce from the tins.

Squid instead. A tin of Gueyu Mar chargrilled squid in ink sauce (shop Gueyu Mar squid in ink) goes over the same potatoes. Leave out the pimentón, since the black ink sauce is the seasoning, and finish with oil, coarse salt and a squeeze of lemon. Either tin also works over plain white rice.

In Denver. At 5,000 feet water boils at about 203°F instead of 212°F, so food boiled or simmered takes longer. Expect the potatoes to take longer than at sea level, and trust the knife over the clock. The octopus step does not change, because the tin is only warmed. More detail is in the cooking at altitude guide.

The oil goes on raw and last, so its flavor carries the plate. The olive oil buying guide covers choosing one.

Further reading. Galicia's canning coast has its own piece, the Galician rías shellfish guide. Storage of opened tins is covered in the guide to how long tinned fish lasts after opening.

The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, and products ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com.