The Art of Grilling Octopus

Grilled octopus is always a big hit on our specials list because we do it right. We prepare it with olive oil, toasted potatoes, garlic, and lemon aioli with chili drizzle, or olive oil, seared potato, micro peppercress salad with chili drizzle, sometimes with kalamata aioli, arugula salad and chili drizzle, once in a while with lima beans and chili drizzle. We like to drizzle. And just the other day, we served it with roasted sweet potatoes and spicy habanero aioli.

Admittedly, something with 8 tentacles, hundreds of suction cups, a mystery sack and spewing ink doesn’t sound appetizing, or edible for that matter, but you can’t argue with thousands of years of tradition. High in protein, B-12 and iron, this squirmy sucking creature has always been very attractive to cultures in the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and South America. Our Head Chef Pepe sticks to the tradition taught to him by his father. They would wade in the shallow waters on Marcona beach, once a quaint fishing town, near the Nazca Province in Peru and catch octopus. They simmered the octopus for half an hour, then grilled it or put it over ceviche.  A very easy recipe that makes it a little easier on the eyes.