OCTOPUS WITH GARLIC - POLIPI VERACI ALL'AGLIO

      Title: OCTOPUS WITH GARLIC - POLIPI VERACI ALL'AGLIO
  Categories: Seafood, Italian, Garlic
       Yield: 6 Servings
  
       2    Octopus (about 1 1/2 pounds
            -each)
     1/4 c  Olive oil
       5    Cloves garlic, crushed
       1    Bay leaf
     1/2 ts Cumin seeds
            Salt
       1 sm Green pepper, chopped
  
   rosemary leaves and parsley
   
   Cut out the eyes and mouth of the octopus. Remove the ink sac and
   internal bone. Cut off the tough points in the tentacles. Put each
   octopus on a board and beat them well to break the fibers and make
   the meat more tender. Wash them in running water until they are very
   white; do not dry but put them in an earthen- ware dish and season
   with oil, flavored with garlic, bay leaf and cumin seeds. Cover the
   dish tightly with a sheet of waxed paper or foil tied around the top
   with string. Put the dish over a very low heat between 1 and 2 hours,
   according to the size of the octopus. When they are tender, drain
   them, season with additional oil, salt, green pepper, rosemary leaves
   and parsley. Serve in a tureen.
   
   From "Feast of Italy", translated from the Italian edition published
   by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1973. Consulting Chef, Giorgio Gioco.
   Thomas Crowell, New York. ISBN 0-690-00059-6
   
   It doesn't make reference to it in the text, but in the pictures of
   both these dishes, it shows one or two largish octopi garnished with
   reseattes of baby octopi tentacles. I imagine you'd do quite well
   using the 'baby' octopi like those I see sold around here in the
   supermarkets, or even with squid.
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