Cuttlefish; Squid; Octopus

Octopus must be beaten to tenderize the flesh—fishermen heave them roughly and repeatedly against rocks to this end. Squid and cuttlefish do not require such harsh treatment. Unless bought cleaned, the tentacles should be torn loose from the fleshy hood, the eyes removed, the little beak-like teeth squeezed free of the orifice and the hood cleaned out, the cuttlebone removed from cuttlefish and the corresponding transparent, celluloid-like bone slipped out of the squid’s hood. The greatest care, it is said, should be taken not to break the ink sack but, in fact, unless one wants the ink for the fabrication of a black sauce of Spanish character, it could not make less difference. The fragile, viscous skin should be peeled off and discarded (large octopus may be parboiled to facilitate its removal), leaving only white flesh. Octopus, unless tiny, are always cut up; only squid is well adapted, by its form, to stuffing, the hood of the cuttlefish being shallower and that part of the wall from which the cuttlebone was removed being thin and easily torn.