We moored up next to a small fishing boat in Spetsai. They were very friendly and asked if we wanted to buy some fish. So to continue our fishetarian adventure we said yes. We went across and I suggested the squid. We tried to help ourselves to 4 animals but they were insistent that we had more. In the end we had given an entire bowl full of fresh squids for 5 euros.
Having watched many cookery programmes over the years I had seen how to gut squid and it looked very straightforward. What I quickly discovered, having thrust my fingers into my first squid, is that when you pull firmly the insides will not all come away in one piece, as it does every time for the professionals, but will break and then you will just have to do your best to pull out the bits. On about squid number 12 one finally came away as it should. We then marinaded the prepared pieces in oil, lemon and dill. The other key thing I learnt was how easy it is to over cook. I new it did not need long but it really was 1 min each side. Consequently about a quarter of the pieces were lovely and the rest were over done and tough.
All in all we considered it a success. We had bought fish from a fisherman in its raw state and transformed it into quite tasty food. The question of whether we really would be able to gut a fish whilst looking into its eyes were answered.
Having watched many cookery programmes over the years I had seen how to gut squid and it looked very straightforward. What I quickly discovered, having thrust my fingers into my first squid, is that when you pull firmly the insides will not all come away in one piece, as it does every time for the professionals, but will break and then you will just have to do your best to pull out the bits. On about squid number 12 one finally came away as it should. We then marinaded the prepared pieces in oil, lemon and dill. The other key thing I learnt was how easy it is to over cook. I new it did not need long but it really was 1 min each side. Consequently about a quarter of the pieces were lovely and the rest were over done and tough.
All in all we considered it a success. We had bought fish from a fisherman in its raw state and transformed it into quite tasty food. The question of whether we really would be able to gut a fish whilst looking into its eyes were answered.
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