Winter flavours

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Published 2023

About

Winter ingredients are generally ones that exist in the comfort zone – pulses and warm spices for soups and casseroles designed to keep the cold at bay, plus tasty seafood for those occasions when you feel you deserve a special treat.

Beetroot is very popular in Greece and is often served with *skorthalia*, a strong-flavoured garlic sauce, or in salads.

Preparing squid and cuttlefish

Wash the squid or cuttlefish carefully. If there is any ink on the body, rinse it off so that you can see what you are doing.
Holding the body firmly, pull away the head and tentacles. If the ink sac is intact, remove it. Keep it for cooking or discard it.
Pull out all of the innards, including the long transparent stick or ‘pen’. Discard.
Peel off and discard the thin purple skin on the body, but keep the two small fins on the sides.
Slice the head across just under the eyes, severing the tentacles. Discard the rest of the head. Squeeze the tentacles at the head end to push out the round beak in the centre. Throw this away.
Rinse the pouch and the tentacles very thoroughly. Drain well.
If the squid or cuttlefish is to be stuffed, leave the pouch whole. Alternatively, slice it into rings. The tentacles are often left whole for frying, but they can be chopped into short lengths if required.