CALAMARES CON AZAFRAN...SPANISH INFLUENCED FRIED SQUID WITH SAFFRON AIOLI
Calamari....sweet, somewhatbriny, meltingly delicious. One of the most popular ways to prepare this treat better known as Squid is to coat it in
either flour, or cornmeal, or breadcrumbs, or a combination of the three and to deep fry it (don't wince in pain , deep fry-
ing is not how you should eat on a daily basis, but give yourself this treat once in a while). While there are many other
ways to prepare this I'm going to concentrate on how I cooked it for dinner tonight. It's only a few days since my
family enjoyed the traditional seafood and fish excesses of the Christmas Eve meal. I reserved a few of the cleaned
and separated squid bodies to make for tonight. The others were devoured on Christmas Eve as Stuffed Calamari in
sauce. I didn't want to eat Italian tonight, so I thought of another popular style of cooking fried calamari, and so I
took a trip to Spain for inspiration. Check out these shots from my June 2008 vacation to Mallorca and Barcelona.
Is that enough inspiration for you? Are you thinking a cornmeal and flour coated fried calamari with a saffron
aioli?? Good. Then we are on the same page. Work with me. CALAMARES is the Spanish term for Squid.
Say it a few times and you'll be eating and cooking a tapas meal in about 5 seconds. First make the sauce, and
this will be a quick Aioli style sauce. Best to use a mortar and a pestle..invest in one if you don't have one. It's
an authentic hands-on way to prepare sauces and grind seeds and spices. If not, pull out your Food processor.
In the mortar use 4 tbs. of Spanish Olive Oil (I said this was somewhat authentic, the flavor of Spanish olive oil
is amazing, works so well for this). and 3 sliced cloves of garlic. Add a pinch of kosher salt and a pinch of Spanish
saffron threads. Pound this till it's smooth, or process till smooth. Then add 1/8 tsp. of Pimenton, that other
Spanish spice which just is perfection...smokey,,but NOT TOO MUCH or it will certainly taste awful. The
strength of this spice goes from mild to unpalatable in no time at all. Mix the pimenton in and let this sit for
5 minutes. Now, add 1/8 cup of Mayonaisse (guess what, if u don't already know it...those pics from Mallorca
are not far from the Island of Menorca where the sauce we call Mayonnaise was first created in it's capital city
of Mahon, so...before you think that I'm selling out with an American product in this Spanish sauce..it belonged
to Spain first.) Blend till smooth and then add the juice of 1/2 fresh lemon. Blend well. Set aside. Now to the
CALAMARES.
These were fresh ,as in not ever frozen Calamari. Most calamari you buy is frozen first..still, an excellent product. Just
defrost slowly and they should sit overnight in the fridge if you are defrosting them. Some say it relaxes them
for a more tender meat. I can't verify that, but it couldn't hurt. For 4 hungry diners, you will need 20 bodies
and tentacles. Slice the bodies into 1/4 rings, no thicker. Slice the tentacles in half. Now in two separate bowls
add the rings to one, and the tentacles to the other. Pour enough milk in each of them till they are just covered.
In another bowl mix 1/2 cup of sifted flour, 1/2 cup of fine cornmeal, 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. of black
pepper. Blend this together till it's a nice homogeneous blend. In a deep pan with high sides add 3 inches of
cooking oil..i like corn oil, just my preference...and heat to 365 degrees. Have a sheet pan lined with paper
towels for draining. In batches, coat the rings with the flour/cornmeal and VERY IMPORTANT~!~!, shake
off the excess. Do this in batches (i will keep repeating this). Using a spider or a wide circular frying perforated
spatula with a long handle, gently add the batch of coated calamari. They should dance around the pan and
separate. After about 30 seconds gently stir them. In another 30 seconds, they should be golden and done.
Remove with the slotted spatula and continue the process until all your calamari fried. Do not cover it because
it will cause the seafood to steam, loose it's crunch and the coating will come off. Keep the pan in a very low
heated oven inbetween frying. When done, serve immediately with lemon wedges and the Aioli. Not a good
dish for reheating..it's a fry and eat dish..that's when it's best. Serve it as an Appetizer, as part of a Tapas
(Spanish appetizers, small plates) menu, or as I did tonight, as an entree over Arugula and finely dices red
onions.
Don't be scared by the Calamari...once you get the hang of it you will want to wow your family and guests with it,
my advice, don't do it for more than 6-8 people..anything over that amount usually needs a good deep-fryer. If you
have it, then try your luck. The light crisp taste of this is SO different from the over breaded many times frozen
prepared rings you get at a chain restaurant or bar. Time to write another chapter for my book now...Buenos Noches!
Posted by peter battaglia at 12/27/2011 11:30 PM 
Categories: SQUID, SPANISH FOOD, CALAMARI
Tags: SAFFRON SPANISH FOOD SEAFOOD SQUID calamari
Categories: SQUID, SPANISH FOOD, CALAMARI
Tags: SAFFRON SPANISH FOOD SEAFOOD SQUID calamari
Numero uno: Peter, you are on my bucket list as a food teacher - somehow must get across! Numero due: Love calamari [you know!]; would not cook for more than 4-5, it's special!; Numero trei: do not eat 'deep-fried', [you know!], but accept 'yours occasionally'. Peter, those three photos are unreal - thank you! Now: my email is eha.carr@bigpond.com: wish I had taken yours ere I went on my fb 'holiday' as e'one is calling it: how do I wish you all a Happy New Yeaar?
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