Flora met us off the ferry at Hvar in a generously -rimmed striped straw hat and modish circular sunglasses. We walked around the bay to the home she inhabits half the year, next door to the infamous Hula Hula bar. We sashayed past with pride, in the knowledge that we were defying tourist traps and getting the fully local experience.
Next day was octopus salad day. Our octopus came from a local chef called Car whom Flora has known since childhood. Because she was cooking for Grand Dishes he allowed her to buy one of his prized octopuses. Generally they’re very hard to come by at this time of the season (September).
Frozen octopus cooks much quicker than fresh and it doesn’t lose any flavour. Even if it’s fresh, it’s better to freeze it. The ice breaks the muscles down, which makes it much more tender. Usually the fishermen would also have bashed it about to break the tissue in the tentacles when it emerged from the ocean. We took ours down to the sea to finish the defrosting in salty water. Throughout the day Flora referred to it as ‘octopussy’, which naturally we all adopted.
Ingredients
For the octopus
1 large or 2 small frozen Mediterranean octopus, gutted
1 small red onion, peeled only
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh of thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 handful of fresh parsley
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 wine corks (optional, added to the cooking water to encourage tenderisation, according to Flora)
For the salad
2 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 plum tomatoes or 6–8 cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 small handful fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped (also good with dill)
4 tbsp capers and their juice
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 black olives, sliced
8 kalamata olives, sliced
olive oil
balsamic or red wine vinegar
Method
Cooking octopus is simple, but if you aren’t careful the texture can end up a little rubbery, so make sure to freeze yours first and follow Flora’s instructions closely. Start by thawing the ‘octopussy’ in the fridge – Flora finished thawing hers in the sea.
Rinse off any grains of sand that might be left on the tentacles. Place the octopus in a large saucepan, add the whole peeled onion, all the herbs, peppercorns and the wine corks, if using. Cover with boiling water straight from the kettle and quickly bring to the boil again in the pan. As soon as it comes to the boil, immediately reduce the heat and let it gently simmer for about 40–-50 minutes, until tender.
While it cooks, start making the salad. Pop the potatoes in the octopus water to boil for 10–15 minutes, until tender. Prepare the vegetables and lay them out separately on your chopping board, ready to layer onto a serving dish when the time comes. When the potatoes are cooled, chop them into small cubes, put them in a small bowl and dress with olive oil.
When the time is almost up, start testing the octopus for tenderness by pushing a fork through the thickest part of the flesh, if it slides in easily, it’s done. It should be wonderfully pink: take it out of the water, admire it and leave to cool just a little.
It’s good to dress the salad while the octopus it’s still warm, so slice the octopus into 4mm coins and drizzle with olive oil, vinegar (Flora uses balsamic) sea salt and pepper, to taste.
Now start layering all the veg (the potato cubes, red onion, tomatoes, parsley, capers, garlic and olives) with the octopus, adding extra drizzles of olive oil and vinegar as you go.
And on the side – bread! Flora had a forgotten loaf that was a bit on the dry side, which she revived by sprinkling it with a little water and then ‘bunged’ in the oven to regain its past glory.
