issue 18: may - june 2000 

PREPARING THE CUTTLEFISH

If I said something like "throw away what doesn’t look edible", most people would end up with a whole cuttlefish in the trash. Yep, a fresh cuttlefish leaves a lot to be desired but prepared well they are a bit sweeter than squid and well worth the effort. Unknown to me my camera was not winding on properly and there is a whole sequence of photos missing. The ones that remain were done to demonstrate the preparation, but you at home will find the process a lot easier and cleaner if you do it under running water. Scissors are the ideal cutting utensil.

1. The body and head can quickly be separated by holding the body (legs) firmly in one hand and the top of the ‘head’ in the other and giving a tug. The nasty bits should come out with the legs.

2. Among the nasty bits find the blueish-silver sac and be careful not to break it. This is the ink, put to one side.

3. Inside the ‘head’ find and remove the oval cartilage. Dry it and put it in your birdcage or discard. Rinse out ‘head’.

4. Cut the ‘head’ up one side then try to find a way of lifting up the thin layer of skin – a lot easier that it sounds – then peeling it off. It should come away easily and almost in one go. Discard.

5. Cut away all remaining yellow and nasty looking bits around the legs – Note: all the unwanted parts look unwanted.

6. Now my least favourite bit. Santi usually just uses his thumbs to pull the eyes out, but here he cuts them out with scissors – remember this is done under running water and the best way for the sqeamish.

7. Not so bad is poking the beak out from the centre of the legs, again this is quite easy and done with just a finger or thumb, the beak comes out surrounded by its own muscle – discard.

8. Remove as much skin from the legs as possible. Wash and cut up into small (½ to 1 inch) pieces. Done.

My thanks to Santi at Bar Les Tapes, Plaça Regomir, for doing the deed without a safety net.

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