G'day. If you're new here, and you are interested in the Melbourne food and drink scene you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or the email newsletter below. Thanks for visiting and enjoy eating and drinking in Melbourne. Cheers.
Photo: Christina Simons
As the legend has it, at least the one I read, lobster a l’armoricaine was originally from the Cotes- d’Armor in Brittany. With time the name was bastardised to from armoricaine to amoricaine and finally americaine. That’s cultural imperialism for you. Now most of us don’t have the pocket for nearly a kilo of lobster in these troubled times. Instead and to celebrate the slow defrosting of the giant celaphapod by some New Zealanders (long term readers will remember that last time I did this was when Japanese scientists caught a giant squid) I thought I’d share my recipe for squid a l’armoricaine.
Remember it is my philosophy not to give long lists of ingredients and detailed quantities. The idea is to cook by taste and feel. For two people about 400kgg of squid is plenty. You’ll also need some good olive oil, an onion, a couple of ripe tomatoes, garlic, tarragon and parsley (fresh, of course), white wine, cayenne pepper, lemon and salt/pepper. If you are a wimp buy squid rings. If you are a real cook, buy a fresh monster from the deep. But you don’t want one that will make rings the size of tractor tyres.
If it’s fresh it should be purple and speckled. And you’ll probably suspect something if it has been lying around for days under a webcam defrosting - it will have a very acrid,fishy ammonia-like smell.
The book I have says to stun it by giving it a sharp blow on the head with a heavy instrument - I hope it’s not a giant. Ah, I see now that was for lobster so quite possibly the squid will already have been dispatched by the fishmonger. She (or he) who may also offer to prepare it for you. If not dispatched, avoid the snappy beak (which makes a great helmet) and I recommend protective glasses to avoid ink squirting into the eyes. As several minutes wrestling a la Jules Vern, strip the insides out of the squid (after ensuring it’s dead, of course). Cut below the eyes to remove the tentacles and remove the beak. Clean out the inside of its “head” and strip off the speckled skin. Wash thoroughly.Finely dice the onion and melt with crushed garlic in the olive oil until sweet and soft. Meanwhile, score the tomatoes at each end and blanche in boiling hot water. Peel, remove the pips and slice finely. Slice the squid into rings and seal in the pan. Add the tomato and finely chopped parsley and tarragon.Add a dash of white wine and a pinch of cayenne. Reduce for a few minutes, add more parsley and serve on a bed of rice. Enjoy with something like a Muscadet or an Anjou Rosé - that’s the stuff we almost always drank in Brittany.
adapted from original post September 2005
Popularity: 2% [?]
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
As a kid my favourite kitchen task was to run my thumb down a squid’s tentacles to pop the ‘teeth’ from the pads after skinning and gutting the slimy creature. Having said that, I had a strange childhood, my next favourite kitchen task was peeling the thick skin from an ox tongue which had been slow cooked in a crockpot.
I’m happy to say sticky that I’m glad you have been released from your Foodie-prayer-Cupboard! At least it wasnt a Austrian cellar-I know, I know, bad taste!
Ed that defrosting NZ giant cellaphod sounds like an awful lot of bait for one hook!
Better than buying it from your fishmonger is to invest in a couple of cheap squid jigs and catch them yourself. At the turn of the moon. Off Dromana Pier.
And I speak from experience when I say WATCH OUT FOR THE INK. Those little buggers can squirt a hell of a way.
Sticky, the image of peeling the ox tongue skin just put me off my Jaffa Cake.
Gobbler, there’s no room in the cellar - that’s where the squid’s defrosting now.
pg, next Chez Fur event, can we do it full moon and catch them? I guess somethings don’t need bear bile on tap to do that.