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I wasn’t a hugely fussy eater as a child so it’s no surprise that grilled octopus is something I’ve been eating for a very long time. I used to love going to a local taverna in Larnaca with my grandpa and ordering the fish meze - and we’d always get the octopus.
The challenge most find with cooking octopus at home (or in general) is keeping it tender and not a tough, chewy mess. There are a multitude of recipes out there with a hundred different ways of approaching it, but this method I choose to use has never failed me. No one seems to believe me when I share that the key is letting the octopus cook in its own juices without adding anything at all - not even my dad! Why use a poaching liquid when the octopus can provide its own?!
I like to use a pre-cleaned, snap frozen octopus from a good fish monger - the freezing and thawing process is said to really support tenderising the octopus and I couldn’t agree more. Bear in mind a frozen octopus will weigh a good 200-300g more than when it’s thawed, so I recommend weighing it once defrosted to aid with cooking times.
