#caramelisation

You need ;

1 good octopus (if you re in the UK make sure its the one with double rows of suckers, not  the whitey spindly one that fishmongers in london sell.) 

1 pot that just fits it

1 kitchen weight, or a condensed HEAVY metal or ceramic thing. Bronze-cast sculpture, whathaveyou

bay leaf 

herbs and spices to your liking (this post is about the texture and process not the flavour)

time ; 2hrs or 1 day ; both equally valid versions’

-

* place the octopus in a pot it barey fits in, ladle some oil and some alcohol / ouzo or white wine or even red, a splash. add a bay leaf  and cover well. turn up the heat to medium high. it will boil in its own water, which it contains in very high percentage. let it boil gently around 20 mins for a 1k octo. adjust for less/ more.

let it go cold in its own juices, leave the pot closed til its room temp.

-

AT THIS POINT * you could go do something else now, or leave this like that till next day. storing in fridge overnight . and continuing next day or even two days later.

- 

take the cooked animal and break into flat bits / halve it or butterfly it. 

Dry it well, reserving the juices. 

Boil out some of t he juices in a small pot, to reduce to a syrup. 

Heat a skillet / heavy nonstick pan up on high. when smoking hot place the octopus on it with NO OIL ;

now take the weight and push it down with it (this is ancient grandma caramelisation technique. in italy they do it with a chicken breast and a brick ;-) 

check for charred-ness and move a minute or two after - repeat. turn heeat down to med

now drizzle a bit of oil, and start brushing it with its juice syrup. 

this will then caramelise - make sure any water that comes out / steam, steams off / so keep moving the bits and flipping when they dry out. letting them rest 1 min or so each time.

*its a process of charring / crisping  / then re-hydrating with the syrup, then flipping and crisping up again. Its quite intutive, and it will smell and feel right when its at its prime point. Dont overdo it.  it takes 5 mins or so.

now season as you wish andn cut on a chopping board & serve asap. with a lemon and some of the reduced surup drizzled.

* this process owes a lot to the chinese / vietnamese way of cooking pork or duck, or the rotisserie middleastern way ; to baste continuously but keep reducing, so you get a beautiful caramelised sticky but crusty texture.

ps.There is a purist sort of way of doing this with octopus, bypassing the pre-simmering stage , and using alluminum foil instead over a hot grill. But its too prone to error and i see no benefit.