Greece, Octopus

Many years ago in Aussie, Bev and I had a small farm where we had sheep and grew a crop of oats and wheat . We Bought some old Merino ewes and mated them with Border Leister Rams . We were after some crossbreeds which are easy maintenance and good mothers compared to the stupid Merino pure breeds.

Of course there was some midwifery and veterinary work that was required as the Border rams were large compared to the tiny mother merino ewes. Bev's midwifery skills came in handy and we were able to achieved 105 % lambing average.

The ram lambs required an elastorator ring to be applied to the balls and tail, while the ewe lambs got off lightly with only a ring on the tail. I remember that while I was carring out this process, concentrating on the task in hand. I slipped an orange elastorator ring into my mouth, in anticipation of speeding up the process I suppose.

I found that when chewing down on the ring with my back teeth there was an equal an opposite force throwing the jaw open again . This kept me entertained and much better than chewing gum.

We have seen Octopus hanging on clothes lines drying like socks and wanted to try some of this Greek Delicacy. I thought it was called 'Calamari', I was proved wrong, that's Squid rings. The waiter corrected me you mean 'Plokami' which is 'Octopus legs' .

" We will have some of each please". we confidently ordered .

A lovely Greek Salad arrived on the table along with fresh bread and olive oil to further enhance the food . The calamari was lightly battered and soft and tender with a lovely fresh fish taste.

The Octopus arrived an three inch lengths now in a C Shape from the cooking process . The suction cups had retracted to small pads and the outer skin which is usually purple in colour had shrunk to be easily parted from the flesh. Grilling had caramelized the butter and garlic fishy flavours.

A day or two later we spotted some frozen Octopus in the supermarket and thought that the cooking would be a breeze . It required simmering for a while then caramelized by putting it under the grill olive oil. "Try this". said Bev

I popped some in my mouth, it was the innermost part of the tentacle, some of the suction cups were still adhering . I chewed down and to my surprise two jets of inky fluid squirted from the morsel. The consistency was like rubber and my down thrust was opposed by an equal and opposite force.

I wondered if the uncooked arsehole of an octopus had inspired the woman who invented the elastorator ring.

Last few days down in Greece, we cross to Italy on the weekend.

I wonder what will happen next

Alvin