SC - need calamari advice

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:
> 
> I've eaten squid before, but never cooked it.  I was redacting a recipe
> from de Nola (which I will post soon) which called for the squid to be
> gently fried (sofrito), then cooked in an almond milk sauce.  I fried it on
> medium for 5 minutes, then simmered for 30 minutes, which seemed to
> be a time recommended by many recipes on the web.  The rings (cut
> from the body, not tentacles, if that matters) were edible, but not quite
> as tender as I would have liked.  Should I have cooked them longer?  I
> kept testing them throughout the 30 minutes, and could not cut them
> with the edge of my wooden spoon, so I kept simmering.  Incidently,
> cuttlefish is an alternative fish for this recipe, and I saw several recipes
> that suggested *it* be simmered for 40-45 minutes.

Squid and cuttlefish both seem to respond well to either a quick or a
slow cooking, but medium tends to be deadly. Not unlike tomatoes in this
respect. Squid should be cooked for less than five minutes, roughly, or
for an hour or so, according to most of the slow-cooked recipes I've
seen. Same for cuttlefish, which is similarly constructed, up to a
point, but generally much larger and meatier.
> 
> So what's the deal here?  Should the squid be cooked longer?  Does
> cuttlefish require more time than squid?  (And how does it differ from its
> cousin?)  Can the two be cooked together without causing problems?

Probably you could cook cuttlefish for 10 minutes or so, and add squid
perhaps halfway through. I'm not sure, though, at what point you could
cut them with a wooden spoon. They are kind of crunchy by nature when
cooked, and while the texture does change with additional cooking, it
goes from being slightly rubbery, but kind of al dente, to being that
sort of deep rubber texture of a hard pencil eraser. Some people do find
this preferable, since it is more... yielding to the teeth, although
somewhat hard. Probably the closest thing I can liken it to is the firm
tenderness of, say, very hard hard-boiled eggs. I know there are some
Mediterranean squid and cuttlefish dishes that call for this type of
long braising, and the canned squid in sauce made from their ink is a
descendant of these.

My own preference is to saute the squid very quickly in a hot pan, then
add the sauce ingredients and just finish cooking the fish.
   
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com