I bought an octopus with long tentacles and a tiny body, a classic of Korean cuisine. I’d like to cook it Livornese style – garlic, parsley and black wine – until tender and well cooked. It seems that these octopuses are 22 percent infected with a parasite, but I assume that cooking will eliminate the problem; it also remains a frozen food. Koreans do not disdain to eat such octopuses alive, which is why the danger of the parasite is mentioned. There is a cleaning system with flour, for a hand massage of a couple of minutes and rinsing, which cleans the external part and eliminates surface dirt. How do you recommend eating it?
Answers Andrea Ghiselli, director of the first level Master in Food Science and Applied Dietetics at Unitelma Sapienza (Rome) and past president of the Italian Society of Food Sciences (VAI AL FORUM)
The consumption of raw animal products is absolutely not recommended precisely because even the freshest, even freshly caught (or butchered in the case of terrestrial animals) certainly carries viruses, bacteria or parasites typical of the species which could be pathogenic for us. Just as we are full of viruses, bacteria and parasites that can be pathogenic for other animals.
So it is good practice to cook and cook well.
Fresh or frozen?
In the case of the octopus
the problem does not arise because it cooks so much that we can be more than sure of the recovery. The fact that it is frozen is not a problem at all, in fact it is very often a good thing. I’m not talking about the Korean octopus because I don’t know the fishing methodology, but I think it’s no different from other products which, especially if branded, are often frozen directly on the fishing boat a few hours after fishing, thus preserving their freshness.
On the contrary, the fresh fish that is sold in fishmongers, however fresh it may be, was inevitably caught several hours before.
Lower quality frozen foods? A myth to dispel
The fact of considering frozen products of lesser quality is truly a myth that is struggling to die, we have even made a rule which requires restaurateurs to inform the consumer when the product is frozen and when not, while, if anything, it would be more logical to contrary.
Even in school catering I often found myself having to talk to horrified parents because their children were given frozen foods. We really don’t understand the reason, if not for sustainability problems, but then it’s another matter or recipe (frozen octopuses are one thing, breaded and pre-fried products are another) and here too, however, the problem is not the fact that they are frozen.
2023-08-05 07:55:10
#safe #eat #raw #octopus #fresh #frozen
