Note
Squids, like other seafood, are extremely useful for everyone - from children to old people. They contain a lot of protein, as well as iodine. Protein is needed by children for the formation of the muscular system, and seafood iodine is essential for everyone.
It's hard to believe, but the intellect, which Homo sapiens is so proud of, directly depends on the insignificant - you can't see it with the naked eye - the amount of the thyroxine and triiodothyronine hormones that the thyroid gland produces and which is vital iodine.
Cephalopods are among the most interesting inhabitants of the sea. They are divided into two orders: octopuses and decapods. Decapods include squid and cuttlefish. In our country, more common squid is harvested and eaten. In many countries, other types of squid, as well as cuttlefish and octopuses, are harvested in large quantities. Already in ancient Greece and Rome, they knew how to cook dishes from cephalopods. At that time, squid was called a winged fish. Squids are really great swimmers. As a result of periodic contraction of the abdominal muscles, the mantle cavity is compressed and water from it is thrown out with great force through the mantle siphon, a powerful jet of water directed backwards is formed. Thanks to this, the satso animal (like a rocket) moves rapidly forward. Sometimes squids jump out of the water and make long jumps in the air.
In the Mediterranean countries, national dishes from cephalopods are very popular. Residents of Yugoslavia and Italians love squid meat stewed in mashed bell peppers with the addition of vegetable oil, parsley and onions. A Greek delicacy is squid cooked in broth with rice. In France, Portugal and Spain, squid is eaten baked, boiled, fried, pickled or dried. Dishes made from cephalopods have long been known and popular in Japan, China and Korea. Dried squid is a special delicacy there. The suction cups cut off from the tentacles are dried in a pan and eaten like nuts.
Canned squid meat in most countries is a delicacy. The squid tastes like lobster meat. Delicious squid meat is very nutritious. In addition to protein and fat, it contains vitamins Bi, Br, Bia, PP and C, minerals and trace elements - iodine, iron, phosphorus, manganese, calcium, as well as extractives that promote the secretion of gastric juice and give squid meat. peculiar taste.Properly and skillfully prepared from squid dishes are appetizing, tasty and easily digestible. And yet in many countries, especially in far from fishing areas, squid and other cephalopods are eaten in small quantities. But in vain!
Squids come in about 200 different species. Depending on the species, most of them are 15-60 cm long (including tentacles) and weigh 90-750 g. The main food of squid is fish (especially sardines), pelagic crustaceans and oysters. The so-called common squid (Loligo vulgaris) is usually 20-50 cm long and weighs 250-300 g. In the depths of the oceans there are also giant squids, the length of which reaches 18 meters and weighs several tons.
Squids can be harvested all year round. Depending on the fishing area, squid are called Pacific or Atlantic. The Pacific Ocean is especially rich in squid reserves. In total, more than a million tons of squid are harvested in the world's oceans. The squid is nocturnal. Therefore, squid fishing is carried out mainly at night, when they are attracted to the vessel by artificial light sources. In the daytime, the squid is caught by trawls.
The body of the squid is cylindrical, strong and muscular, with symmetrical triangular fins at one end and a head at the other. Around the mouth opening there are ten tentacles with multiple suction cups. Two tentacles differ from the rest in length and shape and serve as hunters. They eat the muscular mantle and tentacles of the squid. Squid processing in industrial refrigerators.
The squid mantle is carefully cut to the fins to avoid damaging the ink sac located near the viscera. The liquid contained in the ink sac contains a black-brown pigment. Interesting . note that the "ink" of cuttlefish and squid has been used for writing for centuries.
In the reference book by G. Cuvier "Anatomy of mollusks", published in 1917, all the drawings are made with ink, which the author obtained during the study of mollusks. The famous Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, while sailing on the Kon-Tiki raft, filled several pages of his diary with ink from small squid.
The contents of the ink sac serve the squid in self-defense. In case of danger, the squid releases a cloud of "ink" to hide under its veil. It happens that a squid caught in a trawl releases all the> contents of the ink sac. This facilitates further processing of the squid, since during cutting it is necessary, first of all, to remove the ink sac; in case of rupture of the latter, the meat may darken. The ink bags are subsequently dried and milled in order to obtain a good natural dye.
When cutting squid, the entrails are removed, the head with tentacles is cut off. Thoroughly clean the abdominal cavity, remove the chitinous plates. Then the cut squids are washed in running water. After glass of water, the squid is ready to eat. In refrigerated vessels, peeled squid are pressed into briquettes and frozen. Drying squid is not very common in our country. The squid mantle should be dried in the sun, with good air circulation. Dried squid is sold in the form of thin strips resembling vermicelli, packed in plastic bags or cardboard boxes.
Salted. squid in barrels, peeled and cut into pieces, usually with liver. Fish industry enterprises produce canned food from frozen squid. The most common are canned squid in their own juice or in flavored oil and stuffed squid.
Squid fillet ice cream can be used to prepare various dishes. First of all, the frozen fillet must be thawed in the air or in slightly salted cold water. [/ B] Then remove the skin from the fillet... It can be done two ways: Use a knife to rip off the top, that is, the darker layer of the skin, from the fillet, or quickly dip the raw fillet in hot water and then use a knife to scrape off the dark skin with a strong knife.
After such processing rinse thoroughly fillet with cold water, then beat it off on both sides to soften the strong ring muscles of the squid... If . do not do this, then the squid fillet will shrink and be tough during cooking and roasting. The peeled and beaten fillets can be cut into larger or smaller pieces, depending on the dish to be cooked.
When preparing squid dishes, one must keep in mind that squid meat resembles a chicken egg - the longer you cook or bake it, the harder, tasteless and less nutritious it becomes... You need to cook or fry for 3.5-5 minutes, Only if the squid is cooked together with various seasonings and foods or with a sauce (for example, hodgepodge, pilaf, squid in sour cream or tomato sauce, with vegetable or other filling, etc.) may take 10-15 minutes,
Squid can be boiled whole or in large fillets. Dip the squid meat in boiling water seasoned with salt. It is recommended to add a lot of fresh or salted dill and parsley... The taste of dill goes especially well with squid meat. Many dishes are prepared from raw squid meat, that is, from the fillet and head together with tentacles.
Raw squid fillet fried in small pieces 1.5-2 cm long and weighing about 25 g, but you can also fry fillet halves. You can fry in its natural form, as well as in breading, that is, sprinkle the chopped and beaten fillets with salt and pepper, moisten with a beaten egg, roll in ground breadcrumbs and quickly fry on both sides in a pan. in hot vegetable oil or other fat.
Fillet, head and tentacles easy to make minced meat... The squid meat peeled from the skin must be passed through a meat grinder twice, seasoned with onions, ground pepper and, if desired, nutmeg. You can also add some chopped garlic. Add a little water or broth to get a juicy and fluffy minced meat. Minced meat can also be used to make cutlets, meatballs, meatballs, stuffing for dumplings, etc. {These dishes are also prepared from natural canned squid.) Canned "Squid in aromatic oil" are among the delicacies. They are suitable for cold snacks and for preparing salad.
WHAT OTHER DISHES CAN BE PREPARED FROM SQUID?
Vinaigrette (salad of beets, carrots, cucumbers, onions and potatoes). Suitable as a sauce French sauce with vegetable oil (or vinaigrette sauce)
Jellied boiled minced meatballs
Squid pickle (in fish broth with squid fillet pieces)
Squid solyanka (in fish broth)
Potato and vegetable soup with squid meatballs (use fish broth or vegetable broth for this)
Squid stewed in horseradish sauce
Squid stewed with tomatoes
Squid stewed with various vegetables
Squid fillet rolls with vegetable or fish filling (fried or baked in an oven)
Casseroles
Squid fillet (in pieces, together with appropriate seasonings), baked in white sauce (gratin sauce)
Boiled pasta mixed with pieces of squid fillet and grated cheese
In Spain, the so-called. "Calama-res fritos", that is, a ring of squid fillets in dough, fried with a lot of fat (deep fried)
