Chp 306. World Cup: How to cook an octopus

This coming Monday morning/ Sunday midnight, I will be making a delicious octopus meal. Well at least metaphorically speaking. So feel free to stop by anytime. You’re all invited. As long as you support the Netherlands.

Suddenly, there is this loud buzz about Paul the Octopus, who apparently predicted the winners of all the matches so far. Well, me and a lot of friends have been predicting that Holland will win all their matches since the beginning of this World Cup, but hell, nobody listened to us or gave us press coverage. Instead, they decided to opt for a creepy slimy underwater creature that I’m sure, didn’t even go to a real school (PJ Alert!)



So do we need to have six more arms for people to start noticing us? Bollocks. Watch Paul the octopus cover his head in shame with all eight arms as he squirms in embarrassment for being wrong this Sunday night. Ah. Squirm. Squirt. Squid. Squeamish. Squashy. That’s Paul the Octopus for you.

Meanwhile, in other news today, Chuchu the rat, Dudu the vulture and Foofoo the duck-billed platypus all predicted that Netherlands will win and score at least 4 goals this Sunday while Henry the anaconda predicted that Kima will also score this weekend

Well, I’m not going to be online again till Monday morning (it’s one of those ahemzzz weekends, if you know what I mean… *wink*) so cheers to the Netherlands team. I can already picture the kinda comments that will be waiting for me here on Monday morning if Netherlands lose but that won’t happen. I trust Chuchu, Dudu and Foofoo (and of course Henry )

I have tasted dried octopus meat back in School during the early 90s. We had a couple of students from Thailand and they used to bring dried preserved meat from home – squid, octopus, shark etc. I definitely do not remember the taste now, but I would do anything to try it once more, especially if it’s Paul on my plate. Die Paul Die. That’s German for “The Paul, The”. Paul’s from Oberhausen, Germany, so he’ll understand. Die you ugly cephalopod.

Wouldn’t mind having Paul over for dinner. Provided he’s the appetizer Tandoori octopus 65 (boneless) sounds delicious. Or maybe Schezwan fried octopus noodles.

Here are some other great recipes I’ve found on Google.

Spanish Braised Octopus in Paprika Sauce

Basically you braise the octopus in its own juices, then cut it into pieces and dress it with a paprika-garlic sauce when it is still warm. This is a variant of a Spanish recipe known as "a la gallega." Any size octopus will work with this recipe. Serves 4 as a starter or tapas.

Read more at: About.com: Octopus Paprika

Stewed Octopus with Macaroni

Rinse the octopus under cold, running water and place in pot dripping wet (you don't want to dry it off - this is the moisture it will cook in). Add the red wine, garlic, onion, bay leaf and cinnamon and cover the pot. Bring to the boil over low heat.

Read more at: RecipeZaar: Stewed Octopus with Macaroni

Bon Appétit!

So I'll wish you all well (except Paul of course) and see you all again on Monday.

For tonight’s match between Germany and Uruguay for third place, I will be supporting Uruguay of course. Mainly because Paul the octopus said Germany will win. I am here to prove him wrong. Comon Uruguayyyyy! Psychic my ass.

Secondly, I support Uruguay because of Forlan. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I hate the guy because he was once a Manchester United player, scoring crucial goals against my Arsenal a couple of times. But as a person, I love him. Many of you would know the story of how he decided to become an international soccer player and become rich so that he could support his sister after she met an accident and became paralyzed, ending her dreams of becoming a model. For that, I will cheer for Forlan and the South American boys.

Go Uruguay! Screw you Paul. Eight arms you got but not one finger. Guess which finger I’m showing you right now.

Hup Holland Hup!