Portuguese Grilled Octopus (Polvo Grelhado)

This is a very popular Portuguese seafood dish. The octopus is precooked until it is tender. It is then grilled giving it a smoky crust, and served in a fragrant sauce of parsley and garlic.

Traditionally octopus was wrapped in a sackcloth and then beaten with a stick to tenderise the flesh before grilling. Others have suggested simmering it in water, but I think this takes away a lot of the flavour. I have found that the best way of tenderising the octopus is to self-braise it in its own juice under very low heat. The end result is a beautiful and delicious octopus with deep pink skin pigments and a mildly oceanic flavour.

Parsley and Garlic Sauce

The parsley and garlic sauce is really simple to make. But make sure that the garlic is as fresh as possible. Old garlic will be yellow and sticky, often with a green shoot growing out. It will smell strongly and taste too acidic. Fresh garlic will be white and plump, with a deliciously garlicky smell and taste. If you have old garlic only, remove the green stem and blanch it for a few minutes in boiling water to remove the acidic taste. Flat leaf parsley is recommended for making this sauce. It has a stronger herbal flavour compared to curly parsley which is more suitable for decoration. It should be completely dry before it is being chopped.

Portuguese Grilled Octopus (Polvo Grelhado)

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Serves: 2 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 2 hours 30 minutes 2 hours 30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

• About 1.5 kg whole octopus, cleaned
• Lemon wedges

For the parsley and garlic sauce:

• 75ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 sprig of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, pureed or very finely chopped

Instructions

1. Blanch the octopus for a minute or two in boiling water. Transfer to a cast iron or heavy casserole and cover with lid. Cook in a preheated oven at 120°C for about two hours, depending on the size, or until tender. The octopus will release a very large amount of its juices allowing it to be self-braised. It will shrink in size during cooking. Take out the octopus and let it cool down.
2. For the parsley and garlic sauce (please see notes above), mix the olive oil with parsley and garlic. Let it stand for 30 minutes, allowing the flavour to mingle.
3. Grill the octopus over charcoal or on a very hot grill plate. Place it on a dish and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle some sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges. The grilled octopus may be accompanied by roasted or boiled potatoes, olives and salad.