Octopus and Potato Braise (Polpo e Patate)

The tricky thing about cooking octopus is making sure it’s tender. There are many, many ways Italians will tell you to cook octopus. Many have their ‘secrets’ to getting it meltingly tender – some include boiling with a wine cork, vinegar, sea water or pummelling the beast to break down the fibres before putting in the pot. Others don’t boil it in water but let it cook in its own juices. A very wise (and guaranteed) tenderiser is to pop the fresh octopus in the freezer the day before you need it (or use a frozen one to begin with). It’s the method I find easiest, and it achieves a beautiful result every time.

The cork tradition is a funny one, with a story that my husband Marco likes to tell. Along the ports of Sicily, it was traditional for freshly caught, whole octopus to be cooked right then and there in enormous, bubbling barrels. To recognise your octopus, a cork was tied to the octopus with a piece of string before going in – the floating cork was also handy for pulling out the right octopus when the time came. Passersby believed the cork in the boiling pots of octopus helped tenderise it, and decided to try the same thing at home. In reality, its usefulness as a tenderiser is a myth (albeit a charming one).

The general rule with octopus is to either cook it for a very brief time (flash searing, for example) or to cook it long enough that it gives way and becomes meltingly soft. You can make this dish with baby octopus too – it is considerably easier to clean and only takes 20 minutes to cook completely. If you have a larger octopus, an hour usually suffices. You can serve this right away, warm, or you can eat it chilled, which is excellent in hot weather.