I love squid!!

EEEEEE!!! KRACKEN!!!!!

No matter which language you use, you always win for best plating, dccarch!

I love squid but not so sure that orange sauce is the right food pairing. Your art is lovely though.

Someone may have ‘released the kracken’, but our resident poet-warrior and culinarian slayed it, prepared it, and plated it with his uncommon dexterity and artfulness : )

Dcarch, I’ve never eaten squid, but I’d try yours without hesitation. Oddly, in my land of never-have’s, I saw a beautiful whole squid at the grocery store, one time. I was too intimidated to pay the price. Maybe some day : )

Not sure I fancy eating Cthulhu...

Why, Colleen? He wouldn't mind eating us!

I do like squid, although we most often get it here via the tentacles cut into rings, batter dipped and deep fried. You know, the midwestern way, LOL. I wouldn't hesitate to eat it, even with orange sauce.

I have to admit that I'd prefer it "disassembled", it's kind of like eating a fish with the head still attached, there's an eerie feeling that it's looking at you. (grin)

Annie

LOL Annie! I love whole fish, but mostly so I can eat the cheeks - DH thinks I'm crazy but he's never tried those lovely bites - but I don't like all the little bones. Eons ago I remember my brother being served a whole trout (the more usual way Mom cooked fish was whole). He poked at the eye with his fork and it popped out and hit him in the face - he freaked out. I think he's had an aversion to them since! Sure gave us all a good laugh!

Some proteins served whole give me a bit of the 'eek' factor, but I get over it to enjoy it. Never had a whole pig, but despite the teeth and so on, I'd eat from it. Whole squid reminds me of the scene in Aliens where they dissect the critter.. (sorry!), but again, I get past that pretty fast and appreciate the flavors added, presentation, and those good bits some find 'eeky' : ) Whole duck is another, but if prepared well, I think it's wonderful. About the only protein I would refuse would be bugs, in any form, whole or ground. Fear of parasites.

Thank you all for your comments.

I find the shape of squid tentacles very beautiful and interesting, like some kind of exotic flower.

Squid and octopus tend to get very tough if overcooked, unless you use sous vide. Keeping the squid whole makes it easy to sous vide.

Orange sauce - I should have elaborated more. It was not orange sauce using orange juice. I used only rind from my calamondin orange tree. calamondin orange rind has a very nice strong citrus flavor.

dcarch

I wondered if you'd sous vide it... I found some info on that after seeing your preperation. Anything such as this scares me a bit regarding cooking it too much and the rubbery texture I've read about. If I ever see whole squid again I'll purchase it and try sous vide. Thank you for mentioning that!

2MD, as a matter of fact, I like what I did so much, I went back and got some more "EEEEEE!!! KRACKEN!!!!! :-)

Will be making another dish soon.

dcarch

Wow, must've been incredibly delicious! Would you care to share your sous vide times as well as a good preparation for squid (sauce or dip)? I've rread to sous vide 136 to 139 F and start at 1 hour, check and if still 'rubbery' another half hour - ?

Also, and pardon me if this is just plain stupid, but do they typically come with the mouths/beaks still attached and if so, I'd remove that, correct?

Thanks ahead dcarch. Most likely won't prepare it until the kitchen is done, but will go ahead and buy/vac seal/freeze if I see another : )

I would have called it calamari con sugo all'arancia Calamondin. "Di" is never contracted to d' before a consonant in Italian, and that really threw me off.

To whom did you serve this?

2Many, yes, you have to remove the beaks, though your fishmonger might be happy to clean them for you completely. :)

Dcarch, it was the plating, not the creatures. The plating was your artistic usual, but looked sincerely like a kraken in miniature. :) Though, if you're going to have having dinner with a kraken, much better splayed on a plate than breathing slime down your neck. ;)

Should I ever again order, or cook my own squid, it will now and forever be Kracken, said with a huge smile!

dcarch, be careful with you go to R'lyeh for your Cthulhu, I hear one can easily get lost there ; - ) I'm looking forward to your next preparation and plating : )