Gill Meller
LATIN NAME
Loligo vulgaris, Loligo forbesi
SEASONALITY
Avoid December–May when spawning
HABITAT
Widespread throughout the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean
MCS RATING
3–4; squid from Scotland and Cornwall are currently the best choices, with jigged squid being a particularly selective method
REC MINIMUM SIZE
16cm body length (not including the tentacles)
MORE RECIPES
Squid with chervil and blood orange; Cuttlefish with fennel and white beans; Paella
SOURCING
This is a seafood that requires a little understanding. But once you’ve got squid sussed, it will reward you with tender, sea-sweet flesh that can be cooked in minutes, and works deliciously well with all sorts of rich and spicy partners.
First off, it’s important to know that squid’s slightly bouncy texture is natural, and one of its unique charms. You bite into the smooth cooked flesh and there should be a slight resistance there. However, no one wants to eat squid that feels like chewing rubber – something that can happen if squid is overdone or, conversely, underdone. Squid needs to be cooked either very quickly or long and slow. Like certain cuts of meat, it becomes tender, then tough, then tender again.
A really fresh, young squid (300–600g), will yield flesh that needs as little as 30 seconds on a searing hot barbecue or griddle – 1 minute max – just enough to char the exterior and drive the heat in. The slight bitterness of the char accentuates the sweetness of the flesh. If you have a larger, older squid (700g or more), you can tenderise it in several ways. Open out the body and cut it into large squares (about 8cm), then score the inner surface in a diamond pattern, with the lines 2–3cm apart. This helps the heat to get into the thicker flesh and also stops the meat from curling up too much in the heat – the technique is good with younger squid, too.
Another neat trick is to mash up kiwi fruit, spread it on to raw squid and leave it for anything from 1–6 hours. The flesh will be transformed by an enzyme in the fruit, actinidin, which breaks down proteins. You can also soften squid by long, slow cooking – anything from 1½–3 hours, depending on the age of the squid. With time, the flesh develops a deep, rich, lingering savouriness while retaining that unique cephalopod sweetness, also found in octopus and cuttlefish. I like to slow-cook whole squid bodies that have been stuffed with a mixture of uncooked rice, chorizo and fennel seed, in a rich tomato sauce, and I also love squid braised with chunks of bacon and white beans for a hearty seafood stew.
For quick cooking, the classic is calamari – deep-fried squid rings – dipped in garlicky mayonnaise. It’s hard to beat. Dip your squid rings in seasoned flour or batter and fry in oil heated to around 180°C for just 45–60 seconds. Don’t overwhelm the pan with too much calamari, especially if you are using batter, or you’ll cool the oil and the calamari won’t crisp up.
When buying squid, look for freshness, signified by bright eyes and a reddish-purple, speckled skin. If the skin is reasonably intact, this is a sign that the squid has been carefully handled during its journey to the fishmonger’s slab. A lot of the squid in our supermarkets is imported and may have been previously frozen. Most of the squid caught in British waters is landed in Scotland, often brought in as by-catch by trawl or seine nets aimed at white fish species such as cod and haddock. It’s rarely a specifically targeted species but here in the Southwest, we are lucky enough to have access to jig-caught squid from the area around Sennen Cove. Jigging is a very selective form of fishing, similar to hand-lining. However, it’s still the case that many of the squid caught are immature ones that haven’t reproduced (the females die immediately after spawning). So as with any species, it’s important to be judicious and to avoid the spawning period.
To prepare squid, hold on to the body with one hand and gently pull the head away with your other hand. It’ll bring out the squid’s internal workings in one fell swoop. Cut away the tentacles from just in front of the eyes. There’s a small, oft-forgotten moustache-shaped piece of edible flesh that sits just below the head and alongside the guts – easily missed but fine and tender. The rest of the head and guts should be discarded. Pull out the piece of clear cartilage that is the squid’s only skeletal structure and looks like a transparent feather. To separate the wings, which propel the squid through the water, reach under them with thumb and forefinger and pull them off – try and do this so the majority of the skin comes away too. Otherwise, peel off any remaining skin with your fingers.
To prepare squid rings, cut off the tip of the body at the ‘tail’ end so you can run fresh water through the body and get rid of any remaining guts, grit or sand (trawled squid tend to have more of this than jigged ones as they’ve been rolled along the seabed). Cut the body tube into rings. If it’s a young squid, you can make the rings up to 2cm wide to give the flesh some bite. Make them about 5mm wide if the squid is older and has thicker flesh. With bigger squid, the ring of tentacles can be divided in half or quarters – they should be shared among the plates so everyone gets both body and legs, which have slightly different tastes as well as textures.
Squid is often seen as something to cook in the summer but I also like it in the autumn: chargrilled and mixed with broccoli as a warm salad; or flash-fried and mixed with roasted aubergines, chickpeas and tahini; or with warm chickpea hummus, toasted almonds and smoked paprika. Heading east, it can be paired with zesty flavours such as coriander, ginger and basil, or you can drop rings into a green curry at the last minute, perhaps with some pieces of fish. Squid is great marinated with combinations of ginger, soy, honey, spring onions and sesame oil, then cooked in a stir-fry. The Italians also eat squid preserved in oil and even enjoy super-fresh squid raw in very thin slices, appreciating yet another of its remarkable textures.
GRILLED SQUID WITH CHILLI, PARSLEY AND GARLIC
This is fantastic treatment for small, tender squid. Keeping the body whole means the squid doesn’t curl up too much on the hot grill. Serves 2
1 large garlic clove, grated
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to finish
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
4 small squid, cleaned, bodies left whole
Sea salt and black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, to finish
Combine the grated garlic, chilli and parsley in a large bowl. Stir in the olive or rapeseed oil and some salt and pepper.
Place the squid on a board and insert a cook’s knife carefully into the body pouch from the open end so it fills the cavity. Use another sharp knife to cut through the squid body at 1.5–2cm intervals – you won’t be able to cut through to the board because of the other knife inside. Turn the squid over and slice this side too, without the cuts meeting up at the sides, so that you end up with a whole but ‘ribboned’ squid. Repeat with all the squid.
Put the slashed squid bodies and tentacles into the bowl of flavoured oil. Rub it into the squid and season with salt and pepper.
Heat a griddle pan over a fiercely high heat (or heat up the barbecue). Lay the squid bodies and tentacles on it and cook for 1 minute on each side.
Remove the squid to a warmed plate and trickle with a little extra virgin olive oil and a final scattering of chopped parsley. Rest for 1–2 minutes, turning the squid once or twice in the oil, before serving with new potatoes and a crisp salad.
