Octopus with potatoes and pimentón

SERVES 4

“When I’d visit my aunt Ana in Galicia she would take me to street markets where old ladies boiled octopus in pots so big they were practically cauldrons,” says Mattos. “The women would pull out the octopus – perfectly cooked, still with a bite to it – and serve it sliced, with boiled potatoes, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkling of pimentón and sea salt. Build flavour by brushing the boiled octopus with garlic and fish sauce and then searing it to create a crust. There’s also a good amount of aïoli, which makes it particularly indulgent.”

1 small octopus (about

900gm)

2 bay leaves, preferably fresh

2 medium waxy potatoes, such as kipfler, scrubbed Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying

2 tsp fish sauce

½ tsp sweet smoked paprika

GARLIC OIL

2 garlic cloves

30 ml extra-virgin olive oil

AÏOLI 3 large egg yolks

180 ml (¾ cup) extra-virgin olive oil

60 ml (¼ cup) grapeseed oil 2 garlic cloves mashed to a paste with a little salt

1 For garlic oil, mash garlic and a pinch of sea salt flakes with a mortar and pestle until garlic is thin wisps, then stir in oil.

2 For aïoli, whisk egg yolks with ⅛ tsp sea salt flakes in a bowl until smooth. Combine oils in a measuring cup and, while whisking yolks, gradually add ½ cup of oils, incorporating between additions. If mixture becomes paste-like, add iced water a teaspoon at a time, whisking continuously to prevent aïoli from breaking, but be conservative – it shouldn’t be thin. After adding ½ cup, pour remaining oil in a thin stream, whisking, ensuring it is well incorporated. Aïoli should be thick and smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking, add a little grapeseed oil to achieve your desired consistency. Whisk in garlic and season with salt to taste. Store aïoli covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days. 3 Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add octopus and bay leaves, reduce heat slightly and boil gently for 20 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, put potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover generously with water and add salt until it’s salty like the sea. Bring to the boil, reduce heat slightly and boil gently until the potatoes are cooked through, but give the slightest bit of resistance when pierced with a skewer (20 minutes; you don’t want them mashedpotato soft). Drain and transfer to a bowl. Cool briefly, then break into irregular 2.5cm chunks and lightly crush with a fork.

5 Transfer octopus to a cutting board, cut off a tentacle and taste; it should be toothsome, but not chewy. If it’s not ready, cook for up to 10 minutes longer. Drain and cut off 6 or so tentacles; save the rest for tomorrow’s dinner. Pat dry with paper towels.

6 Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, then coat it with a bit of olive oil. Add tentacles, brush with a little garlic oil, and cook for 10 minutes, flipping and brushing with garlic oil every 2 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, deglaze pan with 1 tsp fish sauce and continue cooking, flipping and glazing with garlic oil, until the skin crisps up, darkens and chars in places. Add remaining fish sauce in the last minute of cooking. Cut tentacles into 2.5cm pieces. Discard (or snack on) the crisp ends.

7 Mix ⅓ cup aïoli into potato to make a potato salad. Put a 15cm ring mould in the centre of a plate and arrange half the potatoes in the mould. Distribute and press potatoes down, creating space at the top of the mould. Lay half the octopus on top. Repeat layering on a second plate with remaining potato and octopus. Dust each plate with ¼ tsp sweet paprika using a fine-mesh strainer for an even coating, and serve.