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As you know I have a weakness for octopus. It is my favourite seafood, on par with prawns and dare I say, I love it more than lobsters! There, I said it. Ii was lucky enough, last weekend, to land a beautiful large specimen from Mrs Fish, my local fishmonger. Tony ( Mr Fish ) had trimmed and cleaned it all for me so that all I had to do was give… Read More

Octopus. For a very long time, this large cephalopod mollusc was a mystery. Some strange beast endowed with a horny beak on its head and 8 suckers lined tentacles. Add the fact that it must be beaten for a long time to tenderise its flesh, then blanched before use and you have me staying away from cooking it ! My parents must have thought the same, as growing up as a child,… Read More

Today’s post is brought to you courtesy of the weird and beautiful things I found in the back of my fridge this week: left over smelly cheese and vacuum-packed pre-cooked octopus! It was one of these nights, when we had ran out of fresh meat and were left with odd assortments of vegetables, opened tubs of cream and lonely eggs. I actually like it when this happens, as it forces me to… Read More

Back in July, one of our stop over was in the Vava’u group of islands, part of the Kingdom of Tonga. Our stay was brief, only 2 weeks, as we had spent longer than planned on French Polynesia (too much of a good time!) and we had guests to meet the following month in Fiji. A rough sea voyage and a spell of bad weather with strong winds, meant that our crew… Read More

Besides coconuts, the main item on the Paumotus diet is seafood. Fish, lobsters, octopus and crabs are all available inside and outside the lagoons, and every local we met is a practised fisherman (or woman). Each visit at Laiza’s kitchen in Hirifa, would bring a surprise: freshly caught lagoon fish turned into carpaccio or an octopus silly enough to swim in front of the house speared and thrown into a coconut curry… Read More