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Squid as food
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Squid, Shrimp and prawn as food, Scallop, Fish as food, Clam
Calamari is a culinary name for squid, especially for dishes from the Mediterranean, notably fried squid (fried calamari). There are many ways of preparing and cooking squid, with every country and region having its own recipes. Fried squid appears in Mediterranean cuisine, in Lebanon, Syria and Armenia it is served with a tarator sauce, in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, it is sold in fish and chip shops, and in North America, it is a staple in seafood restaurants. In Britain it can be found in Mediterranean 'calamari' or Asian 'salt and pepper fried squid' forms in all kinds of establishments, often served as a bar snack, street food or starter.
Squid can be prepared for consumption in other ways. In Korea it is sometimes served raw, and elsewhere it is used as sushi, sashimi and tempura items, grilled, stuffed, covered in batter, stewed in gravy and served in stir-fries, rice, and noodle dishes.
Fried squid
Fried squid (fried calamari, calamari) is a dish in Mediterranean cuisine. It consists of batter-coated, deep fried squid, fried for less than two minutes to prevent toughness. It is served plain, with salt and lemon on the side.
In North America, it is a staple in seafood restaurants. It is served as an appetizer, garnished with parsley, or sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It is served with dips: peppercorn mayonnaise, tzatziki, or in the United States, marinara sauce, tartar sauce, or cocktail sauce. In Mexico it is served with Tabasco sauce or habanero. Other dips, such as ketchup, aioli, and olive oil are used. In the United States, the government and industry worked together to popularize calamari consumption in the 1990s.
In Lebanon, Syria and Turkey it is served with tarator, a sauce made using tahini. Like many seafood dishes, it may be served with a slice of lemon.
In South Africa, Australia and New Zealand fried calamari is popular in fish and chip shops; imitation calamari of white fish may also be used. When offered for sale as whole fresh animals, the term Calamari should only be used to describe the northern and southern calamari (Sepioteuthis spp.), however once prepared as food it is common to apply the term calamari to any squid species and even cuttlefish.
Squid preparation
The body (mantle) can be stuffed whole, cut into flat pieces or sliced into rings. The arms, tentacles, and ink are edible; the only parts of the squid that are not eaten are its beak and gladius (pen).
In Spain and Italy, squid or cuttlefish ink is eaten in dishes such as paella, risotto, soups and pasta.
In Portugal lulas are commonly eaten grilled whole, in kebabs of squid rings with bell peppers and onion ("Espetadas") or stewed. Also stuffed with minced meat and stewed ("Lulas Recheadas"). The battered version is known as 'lulas a sevilhana', named after Seville, the Andalusian city that popularised the dish.
In Sardinia, squid have a sauce made from lemon, garlic, parsley, and olive oil.
In Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Egypt, Cyprus and Turkey, squid rings and arms are coated in batter and fried in oil. Other recipes from these regions feature squid (or octopus) simmered slowly, with vegetables such as squash or tomato. When frying, the squid flesh is kept tender by short cooking time. When simmering, the flesh is most tender when cooking is prolonged with reduced temperature. In the Turkish cuisine, there is also a stuffed squid dish (kalamar dolma).
In Malta klamar mimli involves stuffing the squid with rice, breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic and capers and then gently stewing in red wine.
In Spain, (rabas or calamares a la romana, battered calamari, lit. Roman-style calamari) has the calamari rings covered in a thick batter, deep fried, and with lemon juice and mayonnaise or garlic mayonnaise. Battered and fried baby squid is puntillitas. Squid stewed in its own black ink is called calamares en su tinta or chipirones en su tinta resulting a black stew-like dish in which squid meat is very tender and is accompanied by a thick black sauce usually made with onion, tomato, squid ink, among others.
In the Philippines, squid is cooked as adobong pusit, squid in adobo sauce, along with the ink, imparting a tangy flavour, especially with fresh chillies. Battered squid, which is also sold as a popular deep-fried street food called "calamares" in the Philippines, is served with alioli, mayonnaise or chilli vinegar. Squid is grilled on charcoal, brushed with a soy sauce-based marinade, and stuffed with tomato and onions. Another recipe is rellenong pusit, stuffed with finely-chopped vegetables, squid fat, and ground pork.
In Korea, squid is sometimes killed and served quickly. Unlike octopus, squid tentacles do not usually continue to move when reaching the table. This fresh squid is 산 오징어 (san ojingeo) (also with small octopuses called nakji). The squid is served with Korean mustard, soy sauce, chili sauce, or sesame sauce. It is salted and wrapped in lettuce or pillard leaves. Squid is also marinated in hot pepper sauce and cooked on a pan (Nakji Bokum or Ojingeo Bokum). They are also served by food stands as a snack food, battered and deep fried or grilled using hot skillets. They are also cut up into small pieces to be added to 해물파전 (Korean Seafood Pancake) or a variety of spicy seafood soups. Dried squid may also accompany alcoholic beverages such as anju. Dried squid is served with peanuts. Squid is roasted and served with hot pepper paste or mayonnaise as a dip. Steamed squid and boiled squid are delicacies.
In Slovenia squid are eaten grilled and stuffed with pršut and cheese, with blitva (Swiss chard).
In Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisine, squid is used in stir-fries, rice, and noodle dishes. It may be heavily spiced.
In China, Thailand, Japan and Taiwan, squid is grilled whole and sold in food stalls.
Pre-packaged dried shredded squid or cuttlefish are snack items in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, Russia, often shredded to reduce chewiness.
In Russia, a lightly boiled julienned squid with onion rings, garnished with mayonnaise, makes a salad. Another dish is a squid stuffed with rice and vegetables and then roasted.
Squid is a sushi, sashimi and tempura item.
In Japan and Korea, squid (usually sparkling enope (firefly) squid or spear squid) is made into shiokara (in Japanese) or jeotgal (in Korean). Heavily salted squid, sometimes with innards, ferments for as long as a month, and is preserved in small jars. This salty, strong flavoured item is served in small quantities as banchan, or as an accompaniment to white rice or alcoholic beverages.
In India and Sri Lanka, squid or cuttlefish is eaten in coastal areas for example, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Squid are eaten deep fried (Koonthal Fry) or as squid gravy (koonthal varattiyathu/Roast). In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, squid are called koonthal, kanava or kadamba.
In the United States, in an attempt to popularize squid as a protein source in the 1970s, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a squid-gutting machine, and submitted squid cocktail, rings, and chowder to a 70-person tasting panel for market research. Despite a general lack of popularity of squid in the United States, aside from the internal "ethnic market", polling had shown a negative public perception of squid foods, the tasting panel gave the dishes "high marks".
Name
The English name calamari has been borrowed multiple times, first from Spanish calamar, later from Italian calamaro, and most recently from Modern Greek καλαμάριkalamári. All derive from the Late Latin calamarium, "pen case" or "ink pot", itself from the Latin calamarius, "pertaining to a writing-reed", after the resemblance in shape and the inky fluid that squid secrete; calamarius in turn derives from the Greek κάλαμοςkalamos 'reed' or 'pen'.
Allergies
Allergies to calamari can occur. As with other molluscs, the allergen is probably tropomyosin.
