In Agra do Orzán you will find Venezuelan arepas next to red wine taverns
Agra do Orzán is currently a more or less central area in the city of A Coruña, a neighborhood born in the 50s around the old road that led to the Costa da Morte and in which the workers who came to the city from different areas of Galicia settled.
At the time it was so out of hand that one of its first built areas, the Mariñeiros Houses , became known as Katanga , it seems that in honor of the film The Last Train to Katanga , which at that time was projected in downtown cinemas and spoke of remote places.
The chaotic urbanism of the 60s , with its narrow streets, impossible corners and its ignorance of green spaces, turned these streets into what they are today, despite the opening of some squares and public spaces. Agra do Orzán is the most densely populated area of Galicia.
To give us an idea: if the most populous neighborhoods in the center of Madrid, such as Chamberí, do not reach 600 inhabitants per hectare, here are over 1,100 . All in a district of the city that maintained some of the signs of its rural origin, resisting until very recently in its streets. In the 80's a windmill still presided over one of the avenues that cross the neighborhood.
That working-class area of the first decades was the victim of a some degradation in the 80s and 90s , but after some interventions such as the pedestrianization of streets, the opening of squares and the market rehabilitation has recovered a more peaceful pace of life thanks to new neighbors.
The little rectangle barely 800 meters long and 500 wide between Ronda de Outeiro and Ronda de Nelle, He saw how some of his first neighbors retired and returned to their places of origin, leaving space for new people from A Coruña who had arrived in recent years. Of the 30,000 residents of the neighborhood today, more than 6,000 were born in other countries, most of whom arrived in the last decade.
Cachapa with hand cheese, shredded meat and llanero cheese from La Churre
This has led to a curious human landscape : retirees who came at the time of Costa da Morte, As Mariñas or Terras de Ordes and some young people who are already second or third generation neighbors live with the largest communities that have come to the city from any corner of the world. And this has given new life to the streets.
Argentines, Uruguayans and Senegalese form the larger communities. But along with them Peruvians, Brazilians, Mexicans, Cameroonians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Nigerians and a long etcetera ( somewhere I have read that in the neighborhood there are more than 40 nationalities ) have been shaping a completely new atmosphere.
Many of the old taverns have disappeared, although some like the Cellar O Cancelo, To Xeitosa, Pineiro House wave Warehouse Orders endure with their wines in cunca , their chorizo tapas and their games of dominoes . The others have been rehabilitated by the new neighbors, opening the neighborhood to kitchens from different countries that allow you to travel the world without leaving this handful of streets.
Mom Africa It looks like a neighborhood bar from the 70s, but today it is a Senegalese home cooking restaurant . The noodle nems , accompanied by a very spicy sauce, can be a good option. Then maybe a Thiere , a millet couscous with lamb. To accompany, a hibiscus drink. And a touba coffee, flavored with jarr (or guinea pepper) as a final point.
One of the dishes of Flavors of Africa
Another option to explore African cuisine is flavors of africa , just over two blocks away. Maffe rice, with lamb and peanut sauce or kandja soup, with okra and seafood, both Senegalese . Or maybe a fish dish, an attieke from Ivory Coast , if we want to explore other cuisines.
On the way, it is easy to pass by the Moroccan products shop on the corner. And there next to it is the supermarket friend , although administratively it already belongs to the Sagrada Familia neighborhood for just one block.
Asian and oriental fresh vegetables, a corridor dedicated to Romanian products, another to Japan, a huge area of Chinese food, another of Pakistani products and some reference to Morocco. The last time I went out loaded with Chinese eggplants, pickled mustard and fresh huacatay . Let's see who gives more in less space.
A little higher, in the Round of Outeiro , this the lanterns , a Mexican where you can try a red pozole, some chiles en nogada or tlalpeño broth . And next to the other round, that of Nelle, a Peruvian, the daisy, is the perfect place for have a mote broth and then be tempted by the specialty of the day: a mixed jelly, chaufa rice... Or Nancy's, a little further up, with its ceviches and charcoal chicken.
Chile in Los Farolitos
An anytime stop in the churre , is always a good option. It is another one of those bars from the 80s that, without too many changes in its aesthetics, Today it serves Colombian and Venezuelan specialties : pavilion empanadas, with meat, fried plantain and caraotas (black beans); Colombian meat empanadas and operated empanadas, which are opened once fried to fill them with ingredients.
And that before getting into flour with cachapas and arepas of all kinds. Or with the paisa tray , if we come hungry: minced meat, eggs, rice, chorizo, beans, avocado, mini arepas, slices (fried plantain) and bacon. Nothing less.
Pork arepa with chicken salad from La Churre
have you heard of the feijao tropeiro ? It is a dish from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais made with beans and cassava flour. And they serve it in O Boteco da Tininha along with specialties such as frango com quiabos (chicken with okra) or the complete feijoada with picanha.
A Coruña is much more than a city attentive to trends and with constant novelties. It is, of course, the city in which to make a Endless wine and tapas route on Calle Galera , where you can explore traditional grocery stores and new places in Montealto or where you can browse in the renovated atmosphere of San Andrés or Alfredo Vicenti.
But it is also, although it is sometimes overlooked, that working class and seafaring city, of tavern songs and wines served directly from the pipe that is still in The Castros , in To Gaiteira or in Labañou and that here, in Agra do Orzán, it has been able to integrate with those new people from A Coruña who have added their culture, and also their gastronomy, to a neighborhood that is today a gateway to the world and in which the best way to begin to immerse yourself is to let yourself be carried away by the palate.
Are you needing a feijaozinho tropeiro for hoje?