I'm kind of kicking myself here. I've had squid many times in my life, but I thought I'd already posted about it. It seems I was mistaken, though, as I looked through the titles of the 564 posts I've made since February of 2012, and didn't see any for this creature. I did write about a close relative of the squid, the octopus (on November 25, 2012), but that's it. And I mentioned in passing in another post that I liked squid in sushi form, but not about squid in particular, in detail. So away we go.
Squid are in the same family as the octopus, cuttlefish, and nautilus--the cephalopods. Structurally, squid have a kind of torpedo-like body, with eight arms, two longer tentacles, and a mouth like a beak. Or rather similar to the octopus, save for a slightly different body shape, and two extra limbs. They can move in two basic ways--slowly by moving their limbs and bodies, or quickly by expelling water, in a jetlike propulsion. The squid's defenses are many, and pretty innovative. First off, they use their many appendages to attack, or defend. Some of these limbs have suckers on them, often with raspy edges on them for cutting and slicing. Like the octopus, squid also come equipped with the ability to squirt out ink. Only some species have more elaborate ink displays than just a murky cloud. The ink bursts of some have the approximate size and shape of the squid for a time, confusing potential predators. Or, some are like sticky mucus, which can adhere to the hunter and block their senses for a while. Or, sometimes the ink cloud is bioluminescent, meaning the light dazzles and attracts the attention of the predator, especially in deep, dark waters. Finally, it that's not enough, some squid species will bite off the end of a bioluminescent limb and toss it away, and go dark otherwise, leaving the hunter to chase after a bit of light while the squid escapes in another direction. Also similar to octopus and cuttlefish, squid seem to be intelligent. Most scientists think they might not be on par with a typical octopus, but others aren't so sure, since octopus intelligence has been studied much more than that of squids. Furthermore, squid are quite communicative with each other, mainly by changing colors and again utilizing their bioluminescence to signal one another. Or to camouflage themselves, too, as yet another defensive device. The size of squid varies tremendously, with lengths ranging from a small of 10-18 millimeters (or .4 to .7 of an inch) to a record high of 10 meters (33 feet). It's thought that some are even bigger, probably as much as 13 meters (43 feet), based on encounters, and the size of the wounds found on some large sperm whales (which love to eat squids). Staying on sperm whales, the incredibly valuable ambergris, used as a fixative (scent enduring agent) in perfumes, is linked to squids. This waxy substance is rather like a pearl formed in the intestines of sperm whales, building up around hard, sharp objects like squid beaks. However, it's not just sperm whales that enjoy consuming squid. Many people traditionally partake, such as folks in East Asian countries, the Middle East, and Mediterranean nations. And, more recently, this dish has started to become popular in places like Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and North America.
Anyway, I've had squid in lots of ways, as I mentioned before, so I'll report on each individual one.
Dried, shredded squid: This is a popular Asian snack food, and I bought a bag from an unremembered Asian company decades ago. It was pretty good as I recall. Kind of like beef jerky in texture, size and shape of the pieces, with enough seasoning on it to keep it interesting. A more than solid snack.
Canned squid: I just had this, from Goya. The label said they were wild caught in Spain. One in olive oil, one in a marinara sauce. Both were oval-ish chunks of squid, which was white in the interior, and purplish on the outside. The one in olive oil was just mediocre. It was chewy, but rather bland. The marinara one was better, but still just okay. Chewy again, but not great. Which makes sense--tinned fish is never as good as fresh, obviously.
Calamari: This is often how it's made in Mediterranean countries. It's breaded and fried, and typically comes with a dipping cocktail sauce. The pieces usually look like meaty onion rings, little circles and ovals. This format is very good--nice chewy texture, and the breaded spices and the sauce really complement the flavor of the squid meat.
Sushi: This is clearly raw squid, usually a strip of it with several cuts in it. This way is the best, absolutely delicious. It kind of melts in your mouth in a strange but wonderful way. Yet it is still nicely chewy as well, somehow. And raw the flavor of the meat is excellent all by itself.
So, in short, if you like shellfish, and/or octopus, you'll probably enjoy squid as well. As I covered, there's no really bad way to eat it, although prepared as calamari or as sushi are the best options, in my opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment