Octopus is next!

Octopus

Often associated with warm climates such as that of the Mediterranean Sea, octopus is a delicious cephalopod. Indeed the octopus is categorised as a mollusc which has evolved to loose its shell and is closely related to the snail. The octopus has a short life spam with the predominant species found in Irish waters being the Curled Octopus (Eledone cirrosa). This species is easily distinguished by having only one row of suckers on each tentacle. There are a number of methods used to fish for this smart cephalopod and one effective way to catch an Octopus is to lower a white pot (apparently they seem attracted to the colour white) into the sea with a few stones inside. The octopus on finding this potential house will clean out the stones and take up residence allowing the pot to be raised with the catch in inside.
The Spanish are the largest consumers of Octopus in Europe but as is the case with much of the world’s seafood it is the Japanese who are the largest consumers. The octopus, especially when large can be tough and may need to be tenderised. Methods used include bashing the octopus on rocks. The Japanese also are known to boil the octopus in two ways, one being very lightly or alternatively nimono which is boiling the octopus for a long period of time with vegetables to make it tender.

To prepare octopus
Under running water remove the stomach, ink sack, eyes from the head then remove the beak. Turn the body inside out and rinse well.
Blanch the octopus in boiling water for about ten minutes then cool under cold water, rub off most of the dark membrane at this point.
Quickly boiling the octopus in a pressure cooker with water will tenderise the octopus a little more.
To finish
Cut off the tentacles and slice the head into strips. Toss in a little olive oil, garlic and lemon then season with sea salt and black pepper. Grill on a barbeque very quickly and serve with a tasty marinated tomato salad.