Squid/Octopus anyone?

[Dave7]

I didnt want to hijack the "fish" thread.
I enjoy fish but have never tried Octopus or Squid.......I imagine it to be rubbery & tasteless.
Going to Portugal this year on b&b basis so really need to be trying such foods.
So......honestly.....what are they like?
Any other foods I should try?

 

[Markymark]

I’m surprised by squid as I thought it was quite common. Squid is easily over cooked when it does indeed become rubbery. Properly cooked, ie flash fried, is very tender.

 

[numbnuts]

Squid is/can be chewy but very nice, my mums favourite was stuffed squid with cheese and tomatoes, I can get Calamary squid rings done on batter in Sainsburys nice with a salad in the summer. Give them a go, Octopus is nearly the same.

 

[theclaud]

I didnt want to hijack the "fish" thread.
I enjoy fish but have never tried Octopus or Squid.......I imagine it to be rubbery & tasteless.
Going to Portugal this year on b&b basis so really need to be trying such foods.
So......honestly.....what are they like?
Any other foods I should try?

Octopus is delicious but I feel guilty about eating such an endearing animal. Ignore anyone who tells you that octopus and squid are interchangeable - they require entirely different cooking methods - fast frying or grilling for squid* as Adrian mentioned above, long slow simmering for octopus.

*There are exceptions to this rule, but squid is one of those those things that you either have to cook for a minute or an hour.

 

[Lullabelle]

We ate both when we were in Australia but they were perfectly and I liked them both . In the wrong hands yucky and chewy ​

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Love it. Over cooked and it becomes rubbery. Calamari. Calamari. Yum.

 

[Dave7]

Love it. Over cooked and it becomes rubbery. Calamari. Calamari. Yum.

What is the consistancy?
What do you have with it?

 

[MossCommuter]

Salt and pepper squids and plain noodles from the Chinese takeaway

 

[Markymark]

Pretty cheap from a good fish mongers and easily cooked

 

[Ganymede]

Squid is so so so delicious, and I urge you, nay, PLEAD WITH YOU to eat as much as you can, since I suddenly became allergic to it a few years ago and can't have it anymore so you must instead.

I remember in Madrid once getting a roll filled with flash-fried battered calamari....

 

[vickster]

I like the baby squid you get around the med maybe not if you’re squeamish about the tentacles

The rings can be rubbery or very yum

Octopus not so keen, suckers too big!!

I’m sure you could live on pizza and fish and chips for a week in Portugal if you so wished

Why not find a good Italian trattoria and have some calamari

 

[Biff600]

I had fried baby octopus's in a tapas bar in Barcelona the other year, they were ok, better than the snails anyway

 

[BoldonLad]

Mrs @BoldonLad is not a very adventurous eater. So, every once in a while, if I fancy eating somewhere different, I invite my youngest daughter (lowly paid NHS worker) out for lunch. A few months ago, I took her to a tapas bar in Newcastle and ordered various goodies, including calamari. At the end of the meal, I asked her what she thought. Her reply “very nice, but, those onion rings where a bit chewy “. I pointed out, it was calamari, she had eaten. She was not amused and has refused all lunch offers since.

 

[User169]

Hell yeah.

Do feel a bit guilty about octopus given how smart they are, but they’re so yum.

 

[Poacher]

Hell yeah.

Do feel a bit guilty about octopus given how smart they are, but they’re so yum.

... and if the boot was on the other tentacle, they'd have no qualms about eating you!


PS Just remembered one of my late sister-in-law's famous malaprop lines when encountering an octopus in a zoo aquarium - "It's waving its testicles at me!"