I remember this old D&G TV ad, supposedly set in Sicily: the usual Big-Jim-look-alike kind of guy that you see in all D&G ads captures an octopus while swimming, then comes back to the beach and kills the animal smashing it on a rock. Then he checks out a nearby Monica Bellucci who at that precise moment is putting on a swimsuit, with two old Sicilian women helping to hide her naked body; Monica and Big Jim exchange a glance, then she jumps into the water and he starts eating the octopus raw, right there.
Now, I am not sure if this scene really succeeds in appearing sort of sexy, I suspect that for example an English viewer (who most likely wouldn't even think of cephalopodes as edible things) will just find it weird. However, it's true and historically accurate that octopus is a traditional delicacy not only in Sicily but in pretty much the whole of Italy. And as a matter of fact, this is another food that the Italian and Iberian peninsulas have in common, as in Spain and Portugal octopus is very popular too.
The most common version around here is definitely pulpo a la Gallega (roughly "octopus in the Galician way"), which means that the octopus is boiled and accompanied by thinly sliced potatoes, pimentón dulce (paprika), good olive oil, coarse salt. Simple but effective, as all ingredients come together nicely. The recipe originated in Galicia, like the name suggests, but it is now spread pretty much everywhere in the country, and it is very easy to find in Madrid venues.
Personally I love octopus, especially with potatoes, but when I am home I tend to prepare it differently from the orthodox a la Gallega version, just to have a bit of variety. My usual recipe is actually more similar to a Portuguese dish called polvo à Lagareiro, where the octopus is first boiled and then grilled.
A word on octopus
You could easily find pre-cooked octopus at markets/supermarkets, but then you would lose all the fun of cooking it, and you wouldn't have control over the degree of chewieness that you want for the final product, and it would be way more expensive... Buy raw instead, it will cost you usually less than 10 euros per kilo and the dirty job of cleaning will be already taken care of by the fishmonger. The only small steps left for you to do are fairly easy: remove the eyes, the beak and the ink sac with the help of a sharp knife or scissors. That's it.
But, before starting with the actual cooking, you should know about the classic problem with octopus, the fact that it tends to become rather chewie after it's been boiled. There are a few tricks you can use in order to improve its tenderness:
*You can buy the octopus a few days in advance, then simply freeze it. The water inside it will turn into ice and expand, supposedly breaking the tissues and making the defrosted pulpo more tender.
*You can "scare" the octopus. This is a traditional solution, and you can actually see it done live in traditional ferias Gallegas (Galician fairs), where cooks seem to be constantly throwing octopi around, in and out of boiling water. Basically, you don't just throw the mollusk in boiling water then forget about it; rather, you grab it by the head then put it in boiling water for a few seconds, then pull it out; then put it in again, then pull it out; then put it in for the final time, and leave it there to cook. It should have something to do with the octopus flesh (is it called "flesh", I wonder? "meat" sounds wrong...) gradually getting used to the high temperature, and staying tender because of this. Similarly, some Italian recipes suggest to put the octopus in cold water and then slowly heat the whole thing together (and this is more or less what I do).
*You can also beat the octopus repeatedly with a meat mallet. If you do this, remember to cover it with some film or you'll be splashing water all over the place.
Last thing before starting: don't add any salt to the boiling water, at least not from the start. The octopus is already soaked in salty water, that will be released during the cooking, giving flavor to the broth.
Ingredients for 4:
1 octopus of 1,5 or 2 kgs
1 kg of potatoes
extra-virgin olive oil (you'll need quite a lot of it, some 10 tablespoons)
half a glass of white wine for cooking
1 clove of garlic
1 laurel leaf
some parsley
some rosemary
some thyme
coarse salt
Remove eyes/beak/ink sac from the octopus. Now it's the moment: if you feel brave, take a good bite and then let me know if it tastes good.
If you don't feel brave, put 4 tablespoons of oil, the laurel, chopped garlic and chopped parsley in a big pan - or, if you have it, in a pressure cooker. Fry on low heat for a couple of minutes, then add the octopus. Shake the pan a bit, pour in the white wine, let it evaporate a bit, then add cold water until you cover the octopus almost completely. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on low heat for something like 40 minutes from the moment it boils. In the meantime, peel the potatoes and cut them in rather big chunks.
Note that the cooking time might actually vary depend on the size of the octopus, and on how tender you want it to be: many prefer a final product that is a bit chewie, rather than something cooked for so long that it almost falls apart. In any case you can always stick a fork into it to check on its tenderness. Also, if you are using a pressure cooker you can reduce the cooking time by half.
When you are satisfied with the tenderness of the octopus, take it out of the pan and leave it alone for 15 minutes, so the skin doesn't fall off. In the meantime, taste the broth left in the pan - it should be very flavorful, as the octopus during cooking has released juices and salty water; add salt only if needed, then throw in the potatoes. Boil them for 10 minutes or so.
Switch on the oven, set it to grill-200º. Prepare a large oven dish, sprinkle some oil on it, some thyme and some rosemary. After the 10 mins have passed, remove the potatoes from the broth and transfer them to the oven dish. Cut the octopus into pieces, then add it to the oven dish. Sprinkle with oil, add some coarse salt and put the dish in the oven for 10 or 15 mins, close to the grill. Once potatoes and octopus have a color that you like, take them out, add some more olive oil if you like it, and serve.
By the way, after all this you will still have the excellent broth that you used to cook the pulpo and the potatoes: save it for some nice soup or fishy preparations. You can also freeze it.
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