Our annual survey of seafood in Southeast Louisiana this year counts down the 33 best seafood species enjoyed in our restaurants, seafood markets, and homes. For the full survey so far, click here. Or use the links at the bottom to move up and down the list.
#27: Squid (Calamari)
Squid come in all sizes, but the most familiar of them are the small ones from the Gulf that restaurants (particularly Italian ones) serve under the name calamari. In the most familiar squid dish, the cephalopods are coated with flour or cornmeal, deep-fried, then served with some kind of tomato-based sauce--either a cocktail sauce or spaghetti sauce, depending on the place.
No matter where you find fried calamari, you can bet on this: the chef and the regular customers will claim--loudly--that these are the best in the city. Maybe the world.
Despite that, I find myself thinking that squid are not only less common than they once were. And not as good, either. This seems to have happened at the time of hurricane Katrina. The storm killed the city's best fryer of squid--La Riviera in Metairie. No other restaurant has taken its place.
A few matters separate good squid from not-so-good squid. The first is how well they've been cleaned. Squid need to have the "pen" (a stiff sliver of cartilage), the ink sacs, and the little beak (one of which bit me once!) removed. Some squids are stuffed with eggs, but those shouldn't be cleaned out. They're a rare treat, one I haven't had in many years.
Lightness is crucial in frying squid, which can be tough when overcooked. (The texture is somewhat chewy to begin with.) I like to get not only the rings (the body cut crosswise) but the tentacles (which a friend once aptly described as "fried spiders").
Squid don't have to be fried, though. They can be sauteed in olive oil wirth garlic and herbs. They're excellent poached, then marinated in olive oil and herbs to make a cold antipasto. A wide range of great dishes combine squid with rice or pasta. Seafood risotto and cioppino are wonderful. Best of all are dishes using squid ink in the sauce. You see this everywhere in the Mediterranean, particularly in Spain and Italy.
Unacceptable alternative. Larger squid (and they can get so large that they can actually battle a sperm whale to the death) have been turning up on more local menus. They don't look like squid, because large sections of the body wall are cut into rectangles. They are most commonly boiled, then scored (so you can chew them) in sushi bars. Sometimes this kind of squid is grilled. I find it tough and flavorless. I always check to make sure that's not what's coming under the calamari brand. That isn't the local squid, anyway.
Stuffed Squid With Pasta
This may be the best squid dish I ever cooked or ate. The late Mexican chef Jorge Rodriguez, who owned the excellent El Patio in Kenner, created the dish. The cavities of the squid bodies are stuffed with crabmeat and savory vegetables, then cooked down in a cream sauce.
The advance preparation requires pulling the tentacles off the rest of the squid. If you're ambitious, fry these with a corn-flour coating and scatter them over the pasta to lend a textural contrast.
- 1 1/2 lbs. small, fresh squid (about five inches long)
- 2 slices onion, about 1/4 inch thick, separated into rings
- 1/2 stick butter
- 3 Tbs. flour
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
- 4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 lb. claw crabmeat
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 1 1/2 cups grated Romano cheese
- 1/8 tsp. white pepper
- 1 green onion, tender green parts only, thinly sliced
- Cayenne
- 1 cup corn flour (Fish-Fri)
- 1 Tbs. Creole seasoning
1. Buy the squid already cleaned if possible. If not, use a twisting motion to pull the tentacles away from the body. Avoid squeezing where the two parts of the animal meet, so as not to break the ink sac--a real mess. Remove the viscera and the beak from the tentacles by squeezing the point where the tentacles meet. Rinse everything, then set the tentacles aside.
2. Put the squid bodies and the onion into a small saucepan with barely enough water to cover. Bring the pot to a light boil and hold there for about three minutes. Strain the liquid and save. Remove the onions and reserve. Set the squid bodies aside to dry and cool.
3. Heat the butter in a saucepan until it bubbles. Sprinkle the flour into it and whisk as if you were making a roux, but stop after it thickens, before it begins to brown. Add the garlic and parsley and cook until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from the heat. Add the milk and whisk until the mixture has the texture of mashed potatoes.
4. Add the parsley, cayenne, salt, and crabmeat. With a rubber spatula, stir the mixture gently until the crabmeat is well distributed, but not broken.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using an iced tea spoon, stuff the squid bodies with the crabmeat mixture. Leave the last quarter-inch empty. Seal the opening with a toothpick. Lay the stuffed squid in a large baking dish, at most two layers deep. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 25 minutes.
6. While the squid are in the oven, bring the cream to a light simmer in a wide skillet, and reduce by about a third. Add the Romano cheese and stir until it melts into the cream. Stir in the white pepper and 1/2 cup of the reserved stock from poaching the squid.
7. Remove the squid from the oven and place them into the sauce. Agitate the pan back and forth to cover the squid with the sauce. Serve two to four squid per person, garnished with sliced green onions and a scant sprinkle of cayenne.
8. If you're inclined to fry the tentacles as a garnish, just dust them in corn flour seasoned with Creole seasoning and fry in 375-degree oil until golden brown.
Serves four entrees or six to eight appetizers.
