You want tentacles boiled until a wooden skewer meets almost no resistance, sliced into coins over potatoes, then oil and a weather of sweet pimentón. It is served on a wooden board, still warm, the paprika staining the oil at the edges. The potatoes are as much the point as the octopus.
The dish is Galician, and the pulpeiras of the interior — Carballiño especially — made their name at the fairs. Frozen octopus, contrary to the romance, often yields the more tender result; the boil is gentle, the triple dip of the tentacles a way to curl them.
Albariño, slightly chilled. Coarse salt at the end, never in the pot. Eat with a wooden pick. Don't overcook; you want give, not mush.
Method
- 01
Bring a large pot of unsalted water to the boil with the onion and bay — salt goes on at the end, never in the pot. Dip the octopus three times into the boiling water to curl the tentacles, then submerge it and simmer gently. Cook until a wooden skewer slips in with almost no resistance, 40 to 50 minutes. Frozen octopus, contrary to the romance, often yields the more tender result.
- 02
Lift the octopus and let it rest 5 minutes so the juices settle. In the same water — it's already seasoned with the octopus itself — boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Peel them while they're hot enough to handle and slice into rounds. Arrange the potatoes on a wooden board or a warm platter; they are as much the point as the octopus.
- 03
Slice the tentacles into coins about ½ inch thick — you should see the pattern of the suckers on each round — and lay them over the potatoes in a generous overlapping layer. Work while everything is still hot; you want warm octopus sitting on warm potato. The board should look like fairground food, not a composed plate.
- 04
Anoint the whole board with extra-virgin olive oil, dust generously with sweet pimentón de la Vera, and finish with coarse salt. The paprika will stain the oil at the edges; that's the weather of the dish. Serve it warm, eaten with a wooden pick. Albariño, slightly chilled, is what you want in the glass.
