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Cooking octopus is one of the issues that divide the Greeks and the Turks: Both agree that the body has to be turned inside out and the innards and ink sack discarded - both slap the octopus on a rock at least forty times to tenderize it and then rub the octopus on a rock, like washing on a washboard (as if anyone knows what one of these is now) until it produces its own foam. After removing the beak and eyes, the Turkish cooks will then put it in a pot to braise slowly in its own juices. The Greek cooks hang the octopus out on a washing line to dry. This gruesome sight used to turn my stomach in my early days in the Aegean, but after eating octopus in both Kos and Bodrum, I have to side with the Greeks. The best way to eat this fish is to have it grilled on hot coals washed down with a glass of Ouzo or Raki. Octopus is mostly water and drying it in the sun, desiccates it and intensifies the flavour. If octopus is allowed to steam, it turns into rubber. The Italians have another take on cooking this delicacy; they add a wine cork to the cooking pot! No Italian I have met, has been able to adequately explain the science of this to me.
Here they go in for the stewing method....without wine corks.
ReplyDeleteIs it tender?
DeleteI remember seeing many and octopus drying on a fence or wire but didn't know why before now. It seemed quite brutal when they bashed them inside out on the rocks. The rubbing till they foam is news to me too. I never tried it boiled. It just didn't appeal but the barbequed version is one of my favourite memories of travelling in the Mediterranean!
ReplyDeleteHere when people kill a snake (illegal), they often hang them on a fence nearby to dry out and supposedly ward off more of the same!
I'm too much of a city boy...
ReplyDeletewhen we lived in New Jersey Don and I used to take day trips to China Town in NYC. it seemed liked they had every type of seafood known to man...I had recipe books Don had gotten me in Singapore...sort of a mix of English/Asian/Malaysian cooking. there must have been a recipe with octopus...because we'd buy some to use in a recipe...I found it a bit rubbery...so I should have tried a Greek recipe :D I like the beating in on the rocks and then rubbing it on the rocks thing (I washed many a pair of white socks using a wash board when I was a kid) surely this must break the tissue down and make it more tender...sort of like pounding a steak...if I'd only know. I'm sure my apartment neighbors would have been a little startled to see me pounding an octopus on the rocks around the place :D
ReplyDeleteI love octopus but haven't had it for a long time. This is a really interesting post about preparing the octopus...I never knew all this...thanks x
ReplyDeleteWe certainly have always enjoyed the Greek octopus we've had. Last year while in Rhodes, we had it thinly sliced on a salad - heavenly! Ever since then, my husband has been after me to make it at home. Since I had no idea of how to prepare an octopus, I've been putting him off. But thanks for the tip - I've sent him down to the sahil to scrounge up some rocks. So that's 40 times you say?
ReplyDeleteDear All,
ReplyDeleteFor some reason blogger won't let me reply to each post individually. Hope it's just a glitch and will be sorted out this evening.
. . if you'd been dragged out of your house, beaten 40 times with a rock, I suggest you might be foaming a bit, too!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea how to prepare octopus, seems pretty involved (and delicious!). I wonder what method the Croatians use because their octopus was absolute perfection.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had octopus often, but when I've had it in a kind of salad, it's always been moist and tender. I have no idea how it was cooked though.
ReplyDeleteSorry you're having commenting problems. I'm OK with commenting and replying, touch wood, but a couple of days ago I wasn't getting the email notifications consistently. There's obviously a bug in the system.
Ohhh...can't say much about this "octopus', never tried and never will. My neighbour is Greek and they grill it a lot in the summer, except he drowns it down with beer and not Ouzo. They give us some but we don't want to be rude so we take it then our doggy use to enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks anyway for showing the method on how it is prepared...I was thinking I might show this to my neighbour....they LOVE octopus. I'm sure it is delish but the look of it freaks me out.
.....thanks for sharing your story.
haha! I loved this post. I didn't know the difference between the greek method and the turkish method and the whole rock slapping thing was hilarious! (and I imagine quite a scene to behld). I live in Italy so I'll see if any of my italian colleagues know why they put a cork in the pot with the octopus. Have a great day!
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