In Portugal octopus is eaten à lagareiro (olive oil miller style — roasted with potatoes, herbs, onion, garlic, and olive oil), or stewed with rice (arroz de polvo), as well as breaded and then deep fried, with rice and beans.
In this case, octopus is boiled, then cut into pieces, grilled, then brushed with olive oil. The dish is often additionally dressed with a combination of garlic, corainder, lemon juice, and salt. It is traditionally served with small, roasted potatoes with their skin intact.
Octopus has a firm, chewy texture with a slightly sweet taste. Some people liken it to fish or chicken, while others say it has a unique flavor. It often gets cooked in stew or soup, and its tentacles can also be grilled or fried.
This is a very popular Portuguese seafood dish. The octopus is precooked until it is tender. It is then grilled giving it a smoky crust, and served in a fragrant sauce of parsley and garlic.
Eating Qualities
Yanagidako is a cleaned and fully cooked octopus and is entirely edible. The tentacles can be sliced thin and are quite tender and tasty. The skin has a pleasing red color while the meat is a creamy white. Sliced or diced yanagidako can be easily added to salads, ceviche, soups, and sushi preparations.
This manuscript focuses on some of the most important fisheries targeting the common octopus in Europe: the Algarve (Portugal), Andalucía and Galicia (Spain), Sardinia (Italy) and the Thracian Sea (Greece) (Fig. 1).
Eat live octopus very carefully. Approximately six people die each year by choking (those suction cups are not going down without a fight!). Make sure you chew, and chew, and chew a little more to ensure that you won't have a very preventable and potentially embarrassing death.
The simplest way to enjoy our fully cooked octopus is to briefly marinate the pieces in olive oil, lemon, a little garlic, rosemary, thyme, or the fresh herbs of your choice. After just 30 minutes the octopus will take on the flavor and can be served as is with olives, feta cheese, sliced onions, or on a bed of greens.
Though the octopus head meat is flavorful, and can definitely be included, you'll want to remove the beak and ink sac before cooking and serving.
The best octopus comes from Portugal but octopus from Spain and Greece are also good. Size doesn't matter but cooking time will vary by size and variety; it is important for it to be tender.
The best octopus in Portugal comes from Santa Luzia, a small village near Tavira in the Algarve. The locals proudly call it octopus capital. The shores of Santa Luzia are full of small shrimp that attract the octopi.
Countries that eat the most octopus are Korea, Japan and Mediterranean countries where they are considered a delicacy.
If your octopuses are small enough and your pan is hot enough, you can keep the bodies whole, but I usually slice up the head and the tentacles to prevent overcooking.
According to A. J. McClane's _Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery _(Henry Holt, 1977), dipping heats the octopus gradually, so that its proteins break down slowly instead of instantly contracting in reaction to the hot water.
The most basic way of cooking octopus is to simmer it in liquid. Fill a saucepan with salted water and bring to the boil. Add the octopus, reduce the heat immediately and simmer gently for 45–60 minutes. It's important that the water is turned down to a gentle simmer once the octopus is in the pan.
Octopus is commonly confused with calamari, though both are surprisingly different in taste (when served raw) and cooking methods. Many people think calamari dishes are made from octopus, when in fact calamari is actually made from a type of squid.
While tentacles make common appetizers, the head parts, such as the mantle and siphon, are the most tender and easiest to prepare. Don't shy away from the eyes, many people believe fried octopus eyes to be the best part of the meat.
Octopus can be prepared boiled or fried, or in other forms such as sushi. Although the skin and suckers are edible, some people choose to remove them through a process called peeling as these parts can be very chewy and hard to eat.
The meat is very white with a nice, firm texture. If prepared correctly, it is not tough or chewy, but actually quite tender. To me, they taste kind of “scallopy” and “crabby” at the same time, and can be served in cold dishes as well as hot preparations.
Moroccan octopus prices have been rising, as the growing demand worldwide has not been met due to falling supplies both from North Africa and the Mediterranean. Demand continues to grow in the United States of America and it is strong in Japan and Europe.
Chtapodi sti schara (grilled octopus) is a traditional octopus dish originating from Greece. Although there are variations, the dish is usually made with a combination of octopus, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and oregano.
There are many octopus species that can be found in South Australia's marine parks. A popular one is the Maori, which as its name suggests, is found in the waters around New Zealand as well as southern Australia.
Live octopus is a delicacy in some parts of the world, including South Korea and Japan. But if it isn't prepared properly, it could kill you. A nutritionist told INSIDER it's not recommended because the suckers make octopus a choking hazard.