These Arms Of Mine
August 24, 2009 – 12:59 amI became irretrievably enamored by octopus salad during my time in Croatia, where it is enjoyed all along the Istrian and Dalmatian coasts of that most beautiful nation. Pictured here is a typical Dalmatian antipasti configuration that I enjoyed with friends one lazy afternoon at Restoran Planjak on the isle of Korčula.
But how can I share only one photo from Korčula with you when it’s such a magnificent place?
As for octopus, this little squirt looks as if he’s in a hurry to get somewhere, doesn’t he? I assure you, he got nowhere.
Due to his dimunitive proportions the handsome fellow on the plate is most commonly referred to as a baby octopus. Actually he is not Octopus vulgaris at all, but rather a fully grown adult representative of his own species. The distinction is actually made in the layfolk’s nomenclature for the eight-armed lookalikes around the Adriatic and greater Mediterranean system. Look closely, will you?
Whereas your ordinary, everyday Octopus vulgaris has two rows of suckers on each tentacle, this musky octopus (Eledone moschata) has only one. The musky octopus (moscardino bianco in Italian, muzgavac in Croatian) is so named for the distinctive effluvium of musk that fills the air when one is pulled from the water. It is common to shallower waters of the western Mediterranean (such as the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Croatia) and is substantially smaller and more tender than the typical octopus. I’m a staunch proponent of maximum tenderness, but I only used musky octopus for the salad pictured below due to the unavailability that day of Octopus vulgaris.
And you will notice my addition of mussels to the preparation. This is atypical to strictly traditional Dalmatian octopus salad, but not prohibited in the grander sense of Mediterranean mixed seafood salads. One of the best seafood salads I had in Croatia included octopus, prawns, squid and little sand crabs. That was at the charmingly rustic Konoba Ranč in the olive groves above Tučepi, between Makarska and Podgora on the old Magistrala highway.
If you’ve had octopus as thinly sliced nigiri sushi, you’re familiar with its tendency toward a tough, tire-rubber texture when simply and quickly blanched. But there are several techniques that can be employed to tenderize octopus to melt-in-the-mouth perfection. Most cooks will freeze the big-headed bastards overnight. Octopus is often frozen as preliminary tenderizing, and much of the octopus available in the US has been frozen if it’s not when you purchase it. As you may already know, freezing breaks down the cellular structure of animal and vegetable matter. The result is less resistance to the bite.
In coastal areas of Africa, the method for tenderizing octopus consists of little more than handing the catch to local boys who earn a living by slamming the eight-armed unfortunates against the stone wharf repeatedly. Sure, they could use a meat mallet, but that’d take forever. The photos I’ve seen of African octopus being pounded depict large creatures that look as if they could consume a man whole. Ghastly beasts of the deep, but delicious nonetheless. I’m also told that despite the natural toughness of their cooked flesh after death, they have a very gentle disposition in life.
But the musky octopus doesn’t require nearly as much tenderizing before preparation. When I cleaned this fresh, unfrozen musky octopus, he went right into a pot of salted boiling water with a few dashes of red wine vinegar and a couple of wine corks. The addition of a wine cork to the cooking liquid is a trick some Dalmatians employ to further tenderize the meat. Try it when you attempt to make your own octopus salad using this elegantly simple Dalmatian recipe.
Serves 4-6
1 large octopus, cleaned and rinsed
2 to 3 wine corks
1 red onion, thinly sliced
olive oil
wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons capers
Pound the octopus with a meat mallet. Place in a saucepan with water to just cover the octopus, add the wine corks. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 3 hours, or until desired tenderness is achieved. Let cool in its cooking water, drain, then chop or slice the octopus and place in salad bowl. Add the sliced onion, olive oil, wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, capers and parsley, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on a bed of crisp lettuce.
Here in Portland, my friend Marco serves both an entree of braised Oregon octopus and a small plate of baby octopus on crostini at his excellent trattoria, Bastas on NW 21st Avenue. I experienced a flood of memories when I had the small plate last night. But you will not find musky octopus anywhere in the United States. Trust me. If you absolutely must try it, you’ll have to visit the Dalmatian coast. For that, I suggest you contact my friend Alan Mandić at Culinary Croatia and tell him I sent you.
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