Crispy octopus, sour cherries, sour cream, and rosemary smoke | Daniele Usai

Ingredients for 4 people

For the octopus

• 1 octopus weighing 1kg
• 10 liters of water
• Salt to taste
• 200 g black cherry purée
• Hibiscus flowers to taste
• 2 star anise pods
• 5 g cardamom
• 1 bunch tarragon

Other ingredients

• 50 g sour cream
• 12 black cherries in 30-year-old cognac
• 50 g black cherry purée
• 50 g sour cream
• 12 red sorrel sprouts
• Dried rosemary
• Whiskey barrel shavings

Procedure

Freeze the octopus at least 2 days in advance (do not use a blast chiller, freeze in the freezer).

Place the water, octopus, and all the other ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer at 85/90°C until the flesh is tender when pierced with a fork near the octopus's beak (cooking time will be approximately 45/60 minutes).

Cool the octopus in its water to about 50°C. Separate the head from the tentacles and press the octopus into a bowl. Cool in a blast chiller to 3°C.

Cut the terrine into discs about 2 cm thick and fry them over high heat with a drizzle of oil until they form a browned, crispy crust. Season with salt and pepper.

Dish composition

Place 2 tablespoons of black cherry purée (I use a purée that is almost pure, balanced with 10% sugar) in a narrow bowl, previously seasoned with oil, salt, and pepper.

Place the crispy octopus medallion on top and add 3 or 4 dollops of plain sour cream (unseasoned).

Garnish with sorrel sprouts and black cherries in cognac, taking care to drizzle a few drops of the precious alcoholic substance in which the cherries are preserved onto the octopus.

Cover the dish with a dome and, using a portable smoker (half filled with whisky barrel chips and half with dried rosemary), fill the space between the dish and the dome with smoke.

Wait at least 40 seconds before lifting the dome to allow the smoke to settle on the octopus.

The photographs are by Bettina Turiaco