Sun-Dried Octopus: Would You Eat This?!
Oregano-rubbed octopus tentacles drying in the sun outside of seaside tavernas are a surprisingly common sight in Greece. I've heard the drying tenderizes the octopus a bit before it's grilled and served but I can't confirm that. (If anybody out there can explain, the rationale for the sun-drying, I'd love to know.) At any rate, I think grilled octopus is pretty great, but the question of the day is: Would YOU eat this?!
posted by Susan in Italy @ 5:05 PM
10 Comments:
Susan, welcome back! It seemed like you were gone for an awfully long time, and now I'm thrilled to find I have some catching up to do. I've seen this too, and I never tried it. I've seen them do it to squid and fish fillets as well on wooden racks harbor-side. Did you try it?
I would definitely hesitate eating sun dried octopus, that's for sure!
Hi Figs, It's great to hear from you! I've seen the drying squid too but never the fish fillets. Interesting. Have you tried these?
Hi ML, A bit too creepy?
I have actually become a big octopus fan - on the grill in Puglia is greeeeat...but dried doesn't really appeal to me. I think it's all the stuff I ate in Japan when I went there...not too big on the dried fish.
Did you try it?
You bet I would! I tried drying an entire octopus on the clothesline last month but...shooing away flies soon lessened the novelty of it all. Solution: next summer I'm having my husband build me a sort of drying box with fine-mesh screens like the one my dad has in the islands. They are just great for drying seafood!
eeks nope i wudn't for it reminds me of snakes sumhow :(
I think the way it looks and the fact that it sat out in the sun....ok, now I don't think I would eat it.
Absolutely! It's like octo-jerky!
Hi Everybody, I think my post was misleading. The octopus doesn't actually dry very much and it definitely doesn't dry enough to "keep" unrefrigerated for any considerable length of time. It suntans for a few hours before being taken into the kitchen and grilled. I don't actually know what the effect of the drying is, since the result is smoky-grill-y on the outside and tender on the inside.
Hi Ms., I've eaten it many times but I'm betting it's a lot like the grilled polipo in Puglia.
Hi Rowena, Wow! How dry did you get your octopus? What do you do with dried octopus?
Hi diyadear, Ha ha! It's true.
Hi Beenzzz, too icky, huh?
HI Ann, So you like a culinary challenge
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