Polpo is one of the joys of visiting the Adriatic in summer.  Polpo or polipo is octopus, from the ancient Greek polypous, meaning ‘many footed.’  In Italiano, polpo and polipo are both correct terms for octopus! It is one of my favourite foods…I love it grilled, or in a summer salad, especially polpo e patate, a cold potato and octopus salad.  Last year, between camping on the beach in Mattinata, a family wedding, a side trip to Santorini, and mamma’s kitchen, there was a lot of polpo in my life.  In this post, I will share some of my polpo photos, instructions for cooking, and how to make polpo e patate.

I had polpo each of the 5 days I was in Santorini.  There it is called Octapodi χταπόδι, meaning ‘eight footed’. The view from the landing outside my hotel room in Thira was the perfect place to sketch.  When I finished sketching, it was too nice to leave.  Instead of going out to dinner, I walked to a restaurant and got takeout octapodi with couscous.  I brought my feast back and ate it at my sketching spot while watching the sunset.  Yiasou!

In Imerovigli, I had this orgasmic fava bean puree with grilled polpo, caramelized onions and capers. I have to try making this some time. Also in Imerovigli, I had a late night dinner of grilled octopodi on potatoes.

Santorini’s small port has a few seafood restaurants, where I had this very Greek grilled octopodi with oregano.

This photo was taken at the outlet mall in Molfetta.  Yes, polpo is mall food in Puglia!

The day after the matrimonio in Puglia we had a long table dinner in an olive grove by the beach in Mattinata.  This is the gorgeous polpo e patate!  #cookinggoals!

When camping on the beach with my cugini, we often grill polpo and then make a salad with it. The mobile fishmonger il pescivendolo  (pesh·ee·ven·DOH·loh) drives around to the different campsites selling fresh seafood. More about this in Campeggio sul Gargano.  We also have polpo on the grill when we go to my nonno’s olive grove for a grigliata.

This photo of mamma washing polpo in our tiny kitchen in Orsara di Puglia was popular on Instagram.  She made a salad, without potatoes but still yummy! The second one was cooked in a tomato sauce the following day.

People apparently do all sorts of crazy things to tenderize polpo.  It does not need to be beaten against rocks, bashed with a meat tenderizer, or hung on the clothesline!  It just needs to cook in water long enough to tenderize the tough chewy collagen, which is about 1 hour per kg.  Once cooked, it can be eaten, grilled, pan seared in olive oil or saved to use later.  Freezing also helps tenderize, so previously frozen polpo does not need to cook for as long.

Polpo is hard to find in Canada!  I bought a pack of 4 legs/tentacles from Spain, but then had to freeze it as I could not use it right away.  Here is my ‘measurements optional’, flexible recipe for polpo e patate.  It is made with the legs only, as I am not as adventurous as mamma!

Ingredients:      1 kg (2.2 lbs) polpo

                         500 g (1.1 lb) potatoes

                         Good quality extra virgin olive oil

                         10 ml (2 tsp) lemon juice, freshly squeezed

                         10 ml (2 tsp) chopped prezzemolo-Italian parsley

                         2-3 cherry tomatoes

                         1 bay leaf

                         Splash of vinegar

                         100g chopped celery and/or carrots

                         15 ml (1 tsp) capers

                         1 garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)

                         Peperoncino (optional)

                         sale, black pepper

Instructions:

• Wash and rinse the polpo. I had already done this before freezing it.
• In a pan, add salt, bay leaf, cherry tomatoes, lemon slices and a splash of vinegar. Cover with water
• Bring to boil, then lower heat and cook 1 hour. It should be tender enough so that a knife can pierce the polpo with little resistance.
• Turn off heat and let sit in the cooking water to cool
• Pick up and immerse 3 times in the hot water if you want the tentacles to curl.
• When cooled, polpo can either be grilled, pan seared, made into a salad, or stored in the fridge for up to 3 days
• While cooling, cook potatoes in boiling salted water. Peel and cut into pieces
• Cut cooled polpo into rounds or pieces. Add to a bowl with potatoes, olive oil, pepper, lemon juice and prezzemolo. You can also add finely chopped garlic and capers, or peperoncino for a little spice.  Add celery, carrots and cherry tomatoes and mix. Add extra prezzemolo and lemon slices for garnish

I didn’t have any celery and was out of capers.  Use whichever of these ingredients you have at the time.  The photos weren’t taken in the best light, but it was delicious! My next one will look like the one I had in Mattinata!

Are you a polpo fan too?  Have you ever cooked it yourself? Let me know in the comments.  Buon appetito, Cristina