Grilled octopus with asparagus and Agria-haddock espuma

The peak season for octopus is September and October, the tail end of summer in Southern Europe, although nowadays it’s available year round.

If you’re wondering about how to prepare or cook fresh octopus, your fishmonger is an excellent source of advice – and will trim it for you. You can also find pre-cooked octopus in the freezer section of larger supermarkets.

No more excuses for not getting started! Let your culinary talents shine with this recipe full of Mediterranean flavours.

- 1 whole fresh (trimmed by your fishmonger) or vacuum-cooked octopus
- Bouquet of aromatics (carrots, thyme, bay leaves, etc.)
- 2 bundles of green asparagus
- 100g smoked eel
- Olive oil

Agria-haddock espuma
- 1 litre single cream
- 1 Agria potato
- 100g haddock

Garnish
- 1 red onion, pickled (see Method)
- 1 container of purple shiso
- 1 container of Vene cress

Preparing the octopus
Freeze the octopus 48 hours in advance. In a large pot, place the whole octopus, the bouquet of aromatics and enough water to submerge. Cover and cook over a very gentle flame for 40–50 minutes.

Preparing the asparagus and eel
Trim, peel and rinse the asparagus. Blanche half for 2-3 minutes, drain and place in ice water. Thinly shave the other half using a mandoline slicer. Set aside in ice water. Dice the smoked eel and shaved asparagus, then season the mixture with a drizzle of olive oil.

Preparing the Agria-haddock espuma
Cook the peeled Agria potato until soft. Simmer the haddock in hot cream, then add the potato. Pass the mixture through a mesh sieve and place in a culinary siphon.

Final steps
Slice off the octopus tentacles and sear them in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Grill the rest of the octopus over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. To serve, alternate tentacle and asparagus spear on a bed of smoked eel and asparagus, and add the espuma. Garnish with pickled red onions, shiso and cress.

When the octopus is simmering, check for tenderness near the end of the cooking time. You should be able to pierce a tentacle easily with a fork. As for its size, don’t be surprised: octopus shrinks when cooked.