Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Doc Octopus


Last night we were the recipients of a magnificent culinary gift from Posiedon. A 10 pound Pacific Red Octopus got pulled up in a prawn trap just offshore from our house. This is only the second time this has happened, but this monster was quite a bit bigger than the first. I had to bring it home in a black plastic garbage bag and place it in the sink. It was still quite alive at this point. I was amazed as it gradually assumed a colour as close to the stainless steel sink as it could, all over a period of about 10 minutes. I then had the unsavoury task of dispatching it with a knife, and the instant I did, it flashed bright red all over its body. Disturbingly, it continued to move and make vague attempts to climb out of the sink long after its head had been removed. I simmered it up, and we're going to have some for dinner with ponzu sauce, spinach, and tofu. I'm going to give some to my chef friend Christophe, and he's going to attempt some octopus bacon. This was not an adventure for the squeamish, but it's pretty important to be in touch with your food chain. If you're going to eat it, be prepared to go beyond the styrofoam trays at Safeway!

5 comments:

Murray A said...

YUCK......
Is this going to be a sample of the blog? Hmmmm...maybe I'll reconsider my subscription!!!
We will be following your travels with great interest. I'm sure it can only get better! (kidding).
Getting Real, huh?

Anonymous said...

I think it's a good one for the first food post, few people can say they have been that close to their calamari eh :-)

James Glave said...

Sigh. I wish I could get MY kids interested in pacific red octupus...

Geza said...

post early, post often! what better reason to travel than cuisine? my brother went to India last spring and lost 10lbs in 10 days; but for him anything beyond steak (well done!) and potatoes is a challenge :)

Namaste.

Unknown said...

poor little tako, i had unfortunate job in australia of de braining 1000s of baby octupie? quite the job, thankfully they were all gone to meet their makers when i did this. regards and good luck on trip mark chocolate dude