Have you ever eaten octopus or squid/calamari?

[tonmo]

Re-running this old poll, which originally ran on this site in mid-October 2001. The data for the results were accidentally lost, but this was the summary:

Most of us have had both octopus and squid. But a fair amount have had neither. Not surprisingly, more people have had squid/calamari only as opposed to octopus only.

Wonder if that's still true?

 

[Brains]

reply to the current poll


I don't know, maybe it's just me. But I think it's kind of treason to eat one of the animals (or their relatives) that we claim to love so much...
And not trying to be rude to the dear little cephalopods, but I'd never consider eating something that looks and feels like they do.

 

[susanbrant]

The Italians eat squid deep-fried, the Greeks eat octopus in red wine sauce and the Japanese eat both on sushi. (Octopus boiled and squid raw ) All good stuff. Who else?

 

[heydiddlesquiddle]

I would happily carry my squidding gear 5 miles to get a feed of fresh squid almost any day of the week.

As for octo's tho, I am fairly happy to settle down with a few in a chinese stirfry occasionally.

Squid and cuttlefish are the best for eating in my books.

They all are wonderous creatures that interest me in all so many ways.

Tony.

 

[Tonka]

Calamari deep fried rings are very yummy. I feel sad for the poor squids.

 

[nanoteuthis]

The Chinese make very tasty Cuttlefish Balls (chopped cuttlefish rolled into a ball and fried).

That being said.... see my 9 February reply to the How do you catch an octopus? thread.

Tani

 

[spartacus]

I was so unimpressed eating tasteless rubber rings that I never did again & eating an octopus was always treason though ammonites are okay but a little gritty & you can stir your tea with a decent size belemnite.

Keef

 

[Phil]

Not a chance. These creatures are far too wonderful to eat, (he says more than somewhat hypocritically after having eaten squid at his local Chinese restaurant recently. Not that the menu said "Stir fried noodles in sweet and sour sauce with Loligo opalescens balls"). Belemnites (esp. Hibolites) make good toothpicks after eating such stuff, I tend to find.

Attached:- I do have this unpleasant item in a can my grim sister retrieved from a holiday in Portugal 10 years ago and I now keep in my kitchen cupboard as a keep sake. Gah!

 

[cthulhu77]

"Stir fried noodles in sweet and sour sauce with Loligo opalescens balls"


Wow... those must be small.

 

[erich orser]

Squid tentacles and rings soaked overnight in milk (refridgerated, obviously), then breaded, dropped into a deep fryer for approximately 45 seconds at 350 degrees F. Serve immediately with a red curry dipping sauce or marinara. Any longer than 45 seconds and the flesh will get to the consistancy of a tire, any less and it's like chewing a rubber band. If you must, cook it right! Don't let the ceph die in vain!

 

[Jean]

But then I don't like seafood.........give me brussels spouts any day

J

 

[darquerift]

I had calamari once...was these rings in a marinara sauce.....about 25 years ago at a dingy resturant. It wasn't anything to write home about, no taste (even the marinara had no flavor, was like water), very chewy...like rubber bands. Since that was my first try at it I figured that's how it was supposed to be and decided it wasn't worth trying again. Maybe it wasn't prepared right?? Saw in the store today a seafood mix in the frozen section, Squid and Octopus...wondered if i should have a go at preparing it myself?? I love seafood, and will eat just about anything under the ocean.....raw or cooked.

 

[Squidman]

You know, if giant squid weren't ammoniacal, their arms would make calamari rings as big as bicycle tires!

 

[darquerift]

OOOoooo, would be a challenge chewing on those Squidman. Maybe I should practice on gnawing the spare inner tubes in the garage.

 

[Squidman]

I had a calamari salad once. Not rubbery at all, crispy and GOOD. I guess the reason it was so good was because I was visiting a posh restaurant in Boston. Anyway, there were live jellyfish in a tank right next to the entrance!

Postscript: What really made the calamari salad good was that it was not on my tab!