How much of a market is there for octopus? Are they a significant food source, or a delicacy somewhere? Is octopus farming a thing, and should it be?
Opinion piece in The Conversation about proposed octopus farms. Author discusses octopus cities and octopus culture, and argues that farming them would be a very bad thing for the octopuses. (Octopi? Octopodes? Octopeux?)
Apparently, when a bunch of octopus are forced to live in close proximity, they don’t get along well, and develop violent dominance cultures. Managing a farmed community of them will be problematical.
An abbreviated version of the story is also on Raw Story:
(No, Discobot, this topic is not similar to “(semi-) Oldies but Goodies: Movies from the 1970s and 1980s that are good to re-watch”.)
I don’t know about the ethical impacts, but yes octopuses are good to eat. They won’t be replacing beef, but with 8 billion potential customers, I’m sure there’s enough demand to support a farm or two.
Octopuses is right. Octopi is pluralizing a Greek word with a Lain rule. The meaning of -pus here is foot, like in … well, all I can think of are octopus and Oedipus, but there must be more. Octopodes is technically OK, but way too arcane.
In my area, they’re popular enough. Not every store will sell them, but quite a few will. My store usually has whole, frozen octopus, especially around Christmas. We also often have an octopus salad.
I don’t know if it’s specifically an Italian thing, but if you want to find it, an Italian store or Italian deli would be a good place to start.
Also common in France (poulpe). Delicious, but difficult to prepare. The ink sacs are under high pressure (as I found out the hard way) and there’s two of them (as I found out shortly after cleaning up the mess).
Can’t help but think of the old Beatle song Octopus’ Garden. I had a Japanese roommate in college who’d get octopi in CARE packages from home. As I recall they were maybe 4-5 inches long. He’d munch on the legs till they were gone and then eat the head like a jawbreaker. Grossed the shit out of me. But apparently it’s not that uncommon a food.
They are a big part of some Spanish culture, I believe in the province of Galicia it’s considered their speciality and a must try for visitors which they are very proud of.
It’s also highly regarded in Greek cuisine. It’s one of those foods that’s as much about texture as taste. If you enjoy the mouthfeel of properly cooked calamari, you’d probably enjoy octopus.
I’ve cooked it a couple of times, though it’s definitely not something I grew up eating. Simmer it in spiced water for an hour+. After that you put it over a hot grill to get some char on it fast. Served with a vinaigrette with fresh herbs and a lot of lemon juice, it was very good. I’ll make it again.
I never had properly cooked calamari until I went to Japan, it is delicious. I thought calamari was supposed to be chewy like the crap they serve at Olive Garden and bars. Do we only get the chewy parts in the midwest?
Prepared the Galizian way (pulpo a feira or pulpo a la gallega) they are delicious. And quite simple to prepare, can’t understand why they write intermediare difficulty.
Here are a couple of recipes in German from a very good website (IMO, I have no relation with them). Polpo al forno con patate, the Italian recipe, is very tasty and simple! The Greek way of preparing octopus is also good, first boil it, then BBQ it.
Two problems arise when farming octopodes (can we just say pulpos?): fist, as already mentioned, they are solitary beings that do not like company. They develop cannibalistic tendencies when raised in a crowd (depending on the species too, there are many). Second, they are devilishly clever, they will find a way to escape almost any confinement, as aquarists will testify. Then they die on the floor when they don’t find the way back. That second problem raises the possibility that eating such an intelligent animal may be considered unmoral by some. Still, they do taste delicious!
I’ve never had octopus, but this is exactly my experience with squid. I don’t think it’s a matter of which parts we get, but of knowing the proper techniques for preparation. And don’t ask me; I don’t know how, either. I just know it when I taste it.
No, they only cook them wrong. Calamari have no chewy parts when cooked correctly. Pulpos may be a bit more difficult if you buy them fresh, but frozen they are easy too.