Italian Grill - Mario Batali [9]
CEPHALOPODS Octopus, like squid and cuttle-fish, is a cephalopod, a class of mollusks. Octopi can grow to as long as fify feet, but the ones you will see in the market are from two to three feet long. Smaller octopus is usually the most tender, but even so must be tenderized (see below). Baby octopi, no larger than two to three inches, are increasingly available, and they are very tender. An octopus has eight tentacles, and both the tentacles and the body are edible. Like squid, octopi have ink sacs, which, in the wild, can be used to create a liquid smoke screen to hide the octopus from its foe. In the kitchen, the ink can be used to color risotto or pasta.
Many fish markets sell octopus already cleaned, or you can ask the fishmonger to do it for you. Frozen octopus is fine—in fact, freezing helps tenderize it.
Tenderizing Octopus Many cooks dismiss octopus as rubbery, an unfortunate reputation bolstered by images of rugged fishermen squatting on the rocks by the sea and flailing away at the poor creatures. I’ve tried beating them with mallets, puncturing them all over with a fork, and marinating them with an acidic ingredient, but what really makes octopus tender is a wine cork. Cooking the octopus at a low boil with a cork in the water results in edible flesh in much less time, with much less of the toughness associated with OPC (other people’s cephalopods). I’ve heard this is the result of an enzymatic reaction between something in the cork and the protein in the flesh, but beyond that I cannot say.
Calamari, or squid, can grow to as long as ninety feet, but the ones in the market are usually about six to eight inches long. They have ten tentacles, and both the bodies and the tentacles are eaten. Most fish markets now sell cleaned calamari. You can buy either bodies or tentacles, or a combination, depending on the recipe.
Calamari must be cooked either quickly or for a long time—nothing in between, or it will be disappointingly tough. Cook it for just a few minutes, or braise or stew it for 45 minutes or so. Squid ink can be used to color risotto or pasta.
Cuttlefish is related to squid, but its body is more oval and squat and the tentacles are shorter. From Mediterranean waters, cuttle-fish are much more common in Italy than they are here, but you may be able to get them, fresh or frozen, at a good fish market. (If so, substitute them for the calamari in Calamari Spiedini in Lemon Leaves, page 88.) The ones in the market are about six to ten inches long, and they must be tenderized like octopus (see above). Cuttlefish also have an ink sac, though their ink is brown rather than black (the Italian name for cuttlefish is séppia, the origin of our word “sepia”); it can be used in cooking the same way as squid ink.
CHICKPEAS Also called ceci beans or garbanzos, these legumes, Cicer arietinum, are usually sold dried or canned. Like most dried beans, they must be soaked before cooking. Chickpea flour, ground from dried beans, is the main ingredient in panissa, a flat pancake served as both antipasto and bread in Liguria, and in the Sicilian panelle. Always buy dried beans from a market with a good turnover; the older they are, the harder they are to get just right when cooking.
CITRUS ZEST Citrus zest refers to the colored part of the peel of lemons and other citrus fruits, with none of the bitter underlying white pith. The easiest way to grate citrus zest is to use a Microplane rasp grater. A citrus