L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019 LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES Octopus, extra virgin olive oil, some fresh lemon and some parsley: the simpliciyy of making octopus salad © Photojogtom | Dreamstime.com Continua da pagina 30 The amount of lemon juice and seasonings that go into the dressing for your insalata di polpo are largely a matter of taste. I don't like my dressing to be too acid, so I use fairly mini- mal lemon juice. But you can, of course, add as much as your taste dictates—and let diners add more if they like at table. (In fact, some recipes recommend that you only add lemon juice just before serv- ing.) I prefer to be discrete with the garlic, too. On the other hand, I do like my dressing well salted and appreciate just a bit of heat that comes from a generous pinch of red pepper flakes. But what- ever you do, use best quality olive oil—it'll make or break this salad as it does for any salad— and be generous with it. Not all recipes call for letting your octopus salad rest before serving, but I do find it enhances the flavor. As little as 30 minutes will help, while some recipes call for 2 hours or more. But don't let it go for more than a day, or the salad will lose its freshness and the flavors, especially the garlic, may get too strong. The bed of arugula or tender lettuce leaves is, of course, totally optional but a nice touch. The lemon slices add color and help- ful for those who might like to freshen their salad with a last minute squeeze of lemon juice. Variations As you can see from the list of optional ingredients, you can dress up your octopus salad in many different ways. Boiled potatoes is, perhaps, the most popular complement to the octo- pus, in which case you can call your salad an insalata di polpo e patate. It's a nice, economical way to "stretch" your salad. Olives are also quite popular, of- ten green but in Liguria, not sur- prisingly, they use the local brownish taggiasche olives. I personally think the fresh taste and crisp texture of celery mar- ries quite well with octopus. Si- cilian recipes often add carrots, celery and green olives to their insalata di polpo, along with a handful of capers. In- salata di polpo all'eoliana is made with cherry tomatoes and the larger caper berries. Precooking the octopus As mentioned at the top of the post, these days you can buy your octopus, whole or just the prized tentacles, pre-cooked. It is a great convenience, and the quality can be actually quite good. Fresh or frozen octopus you'll need to boil until tender in well salted water. Some people add a bay leaf to the water for flavor, some a bit of wine or lemon juice, some a garlic clove, some the "holy trin- ity" of onion, carrot and celery. Cooking times vary widely. A very large octopus can take a good 2 hours until it's tender, al- though a typical one will take perhaps 45 minutes. Baby octo- pus cooks in as little as 20 min- utes. But do take your time. Some people dislike octopus be- cause it's "rubbery," and of course it can be if it's under- cooked. Old time recipes call for you to beat octopus with a rolling pin or throw it against a marble sur- face to soften it up before cook- ing, but you can dispense with that drama these days, unless, of course you have some pent up aggression you want to release… Frank is a lawyer with a true passion for cooking and sharing food with the people he loves. He inherited his love for Italian cui- sine and culinary tradition from his grandmother, nonna An- gelina, to whom he dedicated his culinary blog, Memorie di An- gelina: www.memoriedian- gelina.com Depending on the area of Italy, octopus salad is enriched with peppers and herbs © Photojogtom | Dreamstime.com

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