Tinned Octopus Slices

It is quite funny to see the kids in the aisle with the canned body parts of various sea monsters. They are excitedly talking about or grabbing things they'd like to try...Dd was hoping to buy a can that contains snails. Well actually we did buy one - but she was hoping to buy the can that held a snail so big there was only one inside the can. I'm not so sure I could handle that one. But being that the one giant slug would have cost $13 - not much chance I will have to deal with it.

We also bought some octopus. It cost $3.66 for a small tin.

"Octopus in Soybean oil, salt added - Product of Thailand – Wild Caught," the package states.

I know the kids would have loved to have opened the tin of octopus and have found recognizable pieces of the octopus –but it wasn’t so.

Dd – “Mmmmm smoky. Very chewy and smoky.”

Ds – “Hint of bacon…chewy…but I actually like it. I really like it but I don’t need more.” Hmmm exercising self-control – or does he really NOT like it.

I thought it was a sweet smoky flavor – overpowering fishy smell which I never like. But it did not taste fishy…actually not much taste but the smoky flavor.

I liked it and ate a few pieces – but later I felt kind of sick and when I would think about having eaten the octopus – it made me feel worse. I'm sure it was all just psychological...there were no lasting effects - psychological or otherwise!

This is a picture of the pieces rinsed off for a better look

Not So Cuddly Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are marine critters that belong to the same family as squid and octopuses. It is not a fish but a mollusc. Like their relatives, they squirt ink which was once used as a dye called sepia.

Here is a picture of the not-so-cuddly cuttlefish.

This package of cuttlefish, packed in it's own ink, was $2.75 and came from Spain.

We purchased this creature a couple of months ago. At first I was scared to try it - and then it kind of got forgotten about. The other day I put it in the kitchen cupboard, so when my dd asked "what can we have to eat?" (during teatime) I noticed the can of cuttlefish and asked if they wanted that. The reply was an excited affirmative.

The appearance is obviously not something appetizing. It looks kind of muddy and clumpy.


The girl "Rinse off the ink."
The boy "No we want to taste it."
The girl "Well it would be like eating a pen."
The girl "You want to cuddle with it?"

It was decided that the ink would NOT be washed away. The girl poked her finger in the ink and tried writing with it.

As usual 2/3 of us liked the cuttlefish. Dd when looking at the cuttlefish "...I think I see...it couldn't be! (suction cups on a piece)...it tastes very suction cup-ful...it tastes like sardines." When I asked her if she liked it she made a loud slurping sound and said "Delish! It was VERY good!"

Ds said "I don't really like it...tastes like oysters."

I liked the cuttlefish, despite its appearance. Though it had a strong fishy smell, the flavor was not very fishy...actually it didn't have much flavor. It wasn't oily and rubbery like I thought it would be.

There is a recipe on the back of the box for "Cuttle Fish and Rice" which I think would be tasty. It would be especially cool if it turned the rice another color.

But Not On Us the Oysters Cried

Well after talking about "The Walrus and the Carpenter" in my previous post, I went and read that poem to the kids again. Then when we headed out to the store - and they obviously had oysters on the mind.

As am I wandering about the kids have stumbled upon a "treasure". They are excitedly calling to me "They have oysters" "They have eels" "They have snails". I decided on a can of smoke oysters. I didn't like the fact that it was packed in "cottonseed oil", I prefer water packed - but bought it anyway.

The kids wanted the oysters for lunch - so I opened up the can, or "unveiled" it as my dd said.



I did not like the looks of the little fellows packed into some yellowish looking oily oil. The kids though, at least the girl, were very impatient to try it. Dd said when she first looked at it, "looks like the yum yums grandma feeds the kitties." Then I heard, "not bad - it tastes like shredded crab - actually pretty good. Tastes really good on bread".

The boy first exclaimed, "It smells terrible...tastes like tuna a little, " then "hmmm not bad."

The girl ate 2 of them but said she was disappointed in how they tasted - thought they'd taste better. She thought they would not have been so slimy. The boy ate only one and thought too that they would have been harder.

I thought they tasted a bit like canned tuna, with a hint of smokiness. They were little and slimy and dark. Not an unpleasant taste - but not something I'd be wanting to buy regularly. I thought they would have been more chewy and rubbery, but at least the ones we had were very soft and the inside was kind of the consistency of liverworst.

I would like to try them in a "nice" restaurant sometime - but not raw and not cold!

Squid Shreds

Our food of the day was squid shreds. I liked the colorful package, the cute squid picture and the fact that it was unusual and cheap (approx. $1.50) and looked like something the kids would think was fun to try.

Squid shreds are basically dried, shredded squid. The main ingredients in order are:

squid, sugar, salt, monosodium glutamate

No country of origin was market on the package but there is some Chinese?? characters on the package that may supply that information.

What did I think of the shredded squid: overpowering shrimpy/fishy smell...surprisingly sweet and chewy (similar to beef jerky in consistency) and after you've been chewing for awhile it tastes hot/spicy.

What did the kids think of the shredded squid: Daughter - "I didn't think it was very good. Very sweet, very spicy, has a really strange smell, feels like beef jerky." Son - "It was salty and yummy."