Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Debunked

Growing up it was not uncommon to have visitors drop by unannounced and expect a place to eat and sleep. We didn't always have enough time or food on hand to prepare what we classed as a company meal.

Setting the table with our very best dishes was a way to dress up a common meal so that it still seemed special and everyone thought they were being served a delicious meal.

I recently debunked that theory when I tried to make octopus palatable by serving it on some good china.  Either I didn't try the right recipe or octopus is simply not made to be eaten.

Have you ever tried it?

25 comments:

  1. I've had squid, but not octopus. The squid was heavily breaded and deep fried and I still felt like I was eating breaded rubber bands!

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  2. Did you soak it in milk first? It will be rubbery otherwise! :D

    Sorry your meal didn't turn out, but your dishes are beautiful!

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  3. no and yuck! i agree, some things are just not meant to be eaten, no matter how pretty they are presented! :-) you were braver than me to even try it! i'll stick with fried chicken and mashed potatos on paper plates! haha!

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  4. I've had octopus in various seafood stews, and the best I've had was grilled (It tasted like it had been marinated in garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil before grilling). I've never cooked it myself, though, so I have no secrets of octo-cuisine.

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  5. It sure looks good though! I've never had it but I'll usually try anything once. At least you tried - I'd probably freak out, put on rubber gloves, and hand it over to Scott to work some magic on it. Not everyone can say they've made octopus but you can! :)

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  6. Don't take this wrong but WHY would anyone make Octopus? LOL. That will teach anyone to not just drop in! Surprise! Octomeal! LOL. Even the prettiest dishes wouldn't distract from that.

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  7. I've never had octopus, but we do eat fried calimari, aka squid, quite often. Above, Kate mentioned that when it was served to her it was very rubbery - most common cause for that, like shrimp, is over cooking.

    You may try an internet recipe search for octopus in cajun/creole cuisines. I guarantee you that those folks over in Lousiana can make ANYTHING taste like bites of heaven.

    Best Wishes,
    Mrs.B

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  8. I am told that it is good when it is grilled, however I cannot (nor will I ever) speak from personal experience. My only question to yopu is "why"?

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  9. We have fried calamari. Is squid that is cut up and we usually have and serve it as an appetizer with a spicy sause. We see alot at weddings too. It's delicious.

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  10. I have vivid (but not vividly good) memories of the day my dad made us try octopus. My mom had not the slightest idea, nor desire, of how to cook octopus, so this was at a local restaurant.

    It came out all chopped up on the plates, all the legs, complete with suckers. AAGGGGHHHH!!! We took the mandatory bite. It was like chewing (and chewing and chewing and chewing...) a piece of rubber. A piece of tough rubber.

    That was probably 40-45 years ago, and I have never had another bite of octopus. No desire for another bite, either. It does not surprise me that your china didn't make it palatable. That would be impossible!

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  11. LOVE IT! I like is raw as in sushi and it's good grilled, fired and in a seafoos soup. One thing is to not overcook it. That's what makes is really chewy. But it will always be a little chewy but not like rubber.

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  12. I have not eaten octopus but I have eaten lots of conch. My son wants to take octopus to a youth gathering/meal and freak out the girls!
    I have a pack of seafood mixture in the freezer that has it in it so we will try it sometime soon.

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  13. I have not eaten octopus but I have eaten lots of conch. My son wants to take octopus to a youth gathering/meal and freak out the girls!
    I have a pack of seafood mixture in the freezer that has it in it so we will try it sometime soon.

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  14. Octopus has always been eaten (You might find old English recipes for "cuttlefish.") wherever it was found. I like it stewed Italian style.

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  15. I don't think so - I remember eating squid and calamari, but that's about it and chewy enough so I imagine Octopus would be even chewier? I wouldn't want to eat an Octopus anyway considering what I know about them!

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  16. I've never had octopus, but I have eaten squid before. It was very chewy, I didn't like it very much. I don't think I would like octopus either. :)

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  17. I have never tried octopus but tried squid one time and was not impressed at all!

    Thank you for your comment on my blog the other day...that is what led me to your blog and I am excited to read it. I am fascinated by the Amish and so your blog is so interesting to me!

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  18. My granddaughter was about 4 years old when she decided she liked pickled octopus. We don't know why. Her daddy was a "foodie" for the newspaper and had brought some home to try. I had some once and it was ok ... but I prefer fried calamri which, if cooked correctly is very tasty.

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  19. Thanks for visiting my blog. I have spent many happy hours reading your blog posts, right from the first one to this one today :-)

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  20. yuck and double yuck!
    I'll stick with my "normal meat"....

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  21. Ah, yes - the question is, indeed, WHY? This isn't something most people have sitting in the freezer, waiting for some grand occasion. The only reason I'd drag it out is if I didn't like the people who showed up!

    The Lord of the Manor and I are vegetarians, so I don't need to worry about this. Once, many years ago, he was looking over the menu at an Italian restaurant and said he thought he'd try the calamari. (He eats seafood; I don't.) I asked him if he knew what it was, and he said No, but it sounded interesting. He changed his mind rather abruptly.

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  22. Love love LOVE squid!!!!

    Sorry you didn't like it = (

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  23. It seems to me octopus would be somewhere on that list of "unclean" foods... :)

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  24. my son and husband really enjoy octopus and squid. the trick with cooking both of these is to cook them quickly for 3 to 5 minutes or to stew them for at least an hour. If they are rubbery you have cooked them for longer than the 5 minutes but not for at least the hour. hope this helps anyone. and also the breaded calamari (squid) that was like rubber bands...they cooked it too long. give it another chance with a seafood place that you trust knows how to prepare seafood. They really are delicious.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.