# Basque Inkfish?



## abandonship (Oct 12, 2007)

Does anyone have a recipe for inkfish? I had this amazing dish at Eppie's in Meridian Idaho late last year and have been pining for it ever since. Does anyone know where I can get squid with the ink sac?


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## Caine (Oct 13, 2007)

If you do a google search you can find a multitude of squid recipes, from Spanish to Italian to French to southeast Asian.

In N'awlins, you should be able to get squid with the ink sac intact F.O.B.


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## BreezyCooking (Oct 13, 2007)

These days it can be difficult to find fresh squid that hasn't already been cleaned.  In fact, it's sometimes difficult to find fresh cleaned squid that still has the tentacle portions (which I love).  However, if you can at least find squid at all - heck, even frozen will do - there are a number of companies that sell squid ink for cooking.  Here are just two links I came across just by doing a websearch on "buying squid ink".


http://www.tienda.com/food/products/se-18-2.html

http://www.markyscaviar.com/home.php?cat=664


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## abandonship (Oct 13, 2007)

Thanks for the info. I'll try to hunt down a recipe online, but I was hoping that someone here had a tested recipe. BTW, Caine, I know that I am showing my ignorance, but what does F.O.B. mean?

I love squid, but find it sad that most places only offer squid (as my kitchen does) as fried calamari. I get the squid already cleaned and separated into tentacles and tubes, and in all honesty, I have never met a fresh squid face to face.


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 13, 2007)

I don't know why Caine felt compelled to use the term FOB - but basically it's a shipping term (Free On Board) ... basically, it refers to the costs of shipping something _after_ being loaded onto a shipping conveyance. Something FOB New Orleans would refer to the shipping costs after the load is placed on the conveyance (truck, train, etc.) and shipped to your location from New Orleans. It might have been his attempt at humor to say -> buying something local?

It sounds like you might be working in a professional kitchen - ask your fish monger about getting what you want.


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## Snoop Puss (Oct 14, 2007)

Are you sure it was squid and not cuttlefish? Most of the dishes round where I am in Spain (east coast) that call for the ink are made with cuttlefish (sepia in Spanish) rather than squid. One of my all time favourite dishes is arroz negro or a risotto nero. Ideally you want not only the ink for this but also the pinkish creamy goo inside the cuttlefish. I don't know what this stuff is and have just had a quick look in Google but am none the wiser. I had assumed it was roe, but that might not be the case. Adding this creamy stuff takes the whole dish to another level.

There are lots of recipes on Google for Risotto Nero, but I make a very, very simple one. First you want a clean cuttlefish. By the look of it, things are very different in the States. Here in Spain, you go to a fishmonger's in a market, point to the one you want and they get on and deal with it for you. For just two of us, I buy a smallish sepia weighing around 1/2 lb. Here it will cost me between €2 and €3.

When I get my sepia home, I've usually got the white flesh of the fish, a tiny little sac of ink that I immediately place in a cup so there's no chance of it going all over the kichen or me, and another, larger sac of creamy goo if my chosen sepia had one.

The dish itself could hardly be easier. Wash and chop the white sepia flesh into bite-sized pieces. Chop an onion and a clove or so of garlic and fry in olive oil or butter, as you prefer. When it's translucent (not brown), add the sepia and fry for a while until you start to think that must be done by now, surely. It pays to fry it for a while to reduce the chewiness. How long depends on the thickness of the flesh. You want to be able to just break it with the end of a wooden spoon. Meanwhile, get your risotto stock going. When your sepia is ready, for your first addition of liquid use something like a white vermouth. I like Noilly Prat. Then start adding the stock and continue to make risotto as normal. About five minutes or so before the end, carefully pierce the ink sac and empty the contents into a smallish cup. Discard the sac itself Take great care not to get any ink on you or your kitchen worktop unless you have something like marble or corian. If you do get any on something you value, clean it off immediately, otherwise you'll be cursing that black blob forever more. Back to the cup - dilute the ink with a ladle or so of stock and then stir that into the risotto. Two minutes or so before the end, pierce your sac of pinkish cream and stir that in too. Discard the sac.

Serve with mounds of freshly grated parmesan and black pepper to taste. On the salt front, I hardly ever add salt to my dishes. Add whatever you like whenever you like.

You get versions of this dish with leeks and all kinds of whatnot in it. Prawns on top and so on. If you were doing this for a special meal, you might want to put other seafood on top to decorate it. But when it's just me and my partner, I prefer it dead plain to make the most of the creaminess and the tang of the sea in the ink. To make the most of the colour, serve on white plates.

Here in my household, we eat this with a certain sense of reverence. Seems daft to say it but there you go. Partly because it really is extremely good and partly because the sepia is a clever creature and I'm never entirely sure I ought to be eating it.


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## Caine (Oct 14, 2007)

*F*resh* O*ff the *B*oat*!*


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## abandonship (Oct 14, 2007)

Caine... I gotcha! I'll try to wrangle some fresh squid or cuttlefish from a connection I have. The fishers here are still recovering, though, so things are little more muddy than they used to be in regards to getting fresh seafood reliably. Oysters are particularly hard, save the few harvest this summer from the Biloxi area. Most of the oyster beds were all but destroyed from Katrina and have had a tough time recouping.

Snoop,

This sounds a whole lot like the dish I had except it was served in a boat swimming in sauce (and I do think it has leeks in it) with a side of a creamy potato dish. I particularly recall the owner of the restaurant saying that  it was squid. I don't know the availability of cuttlefish in Idaho, but I do know that the Basque community has specialty food flown into the area, and a certain pepper grown there for the purpose of Basque cooking.

Thanks to you all who have given me tips. I am beginning to really value DC!


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## Jikoni (May 26, 2008)

Thanks Snoop, ever since I told my daughter about Arroz Negro, she has constantly asked me to prepare it for her, I have searched for the recipes online, but good to know from someone who actually prepares it. Only problem will be fresh cuttlefish. We do get the ink sold supermarkets here. I am sure frozen cuttlefish will not taste the same, but at least my girl gets to try it, she has asked for months. It will be cheaper than her idea, which is a trip to Barcelona in order to try it! . She will someday get to try it with fresh cuttlefish.


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## Nat2007 (Jun 2, 2008)

Hi, inkfish is eaten all over Spain. I have a couple of recipes on my site.


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## Jikoni (Jun 13, 2008)

Snoop, thank you once more, I cooked the Arroz Negro and my daughter loved it. Nat2007, your recipes are lovely, will try some out.


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