A recipe to enjoy from On Sundays: Long Lunches Through the Seasons by Dave Verheul
BABY OCTOPUS, FENNEL, CHICKPEAS AND BLACK LEMON
The unsung hero in this dish is the green chilli. It lends a vibrant herbiness without any heat. When cooking octopus you want to go low and slow or fast and hard. Here, we’re going fast and hard, which will have your octopus coming out tender but with bite. The chickpea mix, with its fermented fennel juice, might just ruin all other chickpea dishes for you
Black Lemons
2 lemons
Octopus Marinade
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 g (¹⁄₁₀ oz) fennel seeds, toasted
2 g (¹⁄₁₆ oz) coriander seeds, toasted
0.5 g (¹⁄₃₂ oz) ground black pepper
2 g (¹⁄₁₆ oz) salt
50 g (1¾ oz) vegetable oil
1 g (¹⁄₃₂ oz) rosemary leaves, chopped
250 g (9 oz) baby octopus, cleaned
To Finish
½ garlic clove, finely sliced
200 g (7 oz) chickpeas, cooked
150 g (5½ oz) Fermented fennel juice (see above*)
50 g (1¾ oz) fennel bulb, finely diced and blanched
1 tablespoon finely diced green chilli
20 g (¾ oz) butter
lemon juice, to taste
Aioli (see below), to serve
Black Lemons
You can buy black lemons from a Middle Eastern grocer, but they won’t be quite the same. To make them at home, try to buy lemons that haven’t been waxed or, failing this, give them a good wash under hot water. Place the lemons into a rice cooker and keep on warm mode for 1 month. Once the lemons have turned a deep black, remove them and dry over a fire until completely dried out and firm, around 3–4 days. Otherwise, you can dry them in a dehydrator for the same length of time. Roughly smash the dried lemons and grind into a fine powder using a spice grinder.
Octopus Marinade
Place everything in a bowl and mix with your hands until the octopus is evenly coated. Marinate overnight.
To Finish
You ideally want to cook the octopus in a wood-fired oven. Failing that, they are delicious grilled over a wood fire. In a small pot put the garlic, chickpeas, fennel juice and blanched fennel. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes. To finish, stir in the chilli and butter. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste.
In a cast-iron skillet, quickly blast the baby octopus in the wood oven. They will only take 2 minutes to cook through and will need to be flipped over halfway. Divide the chickpea mix between two bowls then add a scoop of aioli. Arrange the octopus on top and sprinkle with a little black lemon powder.
Aioli
Makes 415 g (14½ oz)
2 egg yolks
30 g (1 oz) Dijon mustard
30 g (1 oz) lemon juice
10 g (¼ oz) champagne vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
250 g (9 oz) vegetable oil
75 g (2¾ oz) olive oil
Place everything except the oils into a bowl. Use a whisk to beat the mix until smooth, then slowly pour in the oils in a very slow, continuous stream. Whisk until thick and emulsified, then season with salt.
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