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EuroitticaMar Srl deals with fresh, frozen and defrosted seafood.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL FRESH FISH
(sea fish, lagoon fish and farmed fsh)
PROCESSED CEPHALOPOD MUSSELS
Cephalopods are soft-bodied mussels with head and tentacles extending from their sac-form body. The sac contains a shell (called the cuttlebone in ink- fish and gladius in calamari), not always present in other species, like the octopus and the eledone. All cephalopods have an ink – sac containing a dark-coloured compound, located behind the head in calamari and near the guts in cuttlefish. The most common cephalopods are the calamari (also known as squid), the cuttlefish (or ink –fish), the octopus and the common redshank.
These mussels are some of the best-loved ingredients for preparing delicious dishes and are particularly low in fat (1.5-3%) and calories (only 60-70 kcal/hg). Unlike other types of mussels, cephalopods are easy to clean and are most suitable for freezing and deep-freezing, which makes the flesh more tender but less tasty.
Calamary
The calamary is white-pink in colour and has an elongate body with a pair of triangular fins near the tail and eight short tentacles lined with a row of suckers, plus two long arms.
The flesh is excellent, delicate and tasty. According to size, it can be cooked in different ways; smaller calamari are usually eaten raw in the country of origin. They can also be fried, blanched and seasoned with oil and lemon or stewed in tomato sauce to use with pasta dishes. Medium sized calamari (6 - 20 cm) are ideal for grilling, stuffing. They can also be sliced into rings and deep-fried. The bigger ones can be used in soups or grilled. All species, if rightly sliced, can be eaten raw.
Cuttlefish
The cuttlefish has a sac-shaped ovoid body with two arms and eight tentacles lined with several rows of suckers. Smaller species can be stewed, served as a salad or deep-fried. The characteristic ink of bigger species can be used in the preparation of “black” risotto, pasta dishes or stews - ideal with polenta (maize porridge). Otherwise, the ink sac can be removed and the flesh stewed in tomato sauce with peas, chards or spinach, or simply stuffed. Just like calamari, cuttlefish can be eaten raw if rightly sliced.
Octopus
Each tentacle bears two rows of suckers. Italian housewives have always been convinced that beating it prior to cooking would make its flesh tender; anyhow, today you can get the same result by simply freezing it. Octopus is best boiled. Adding a wine cork to the cooking pot is said to tenderize the flesh. In some localities, fishermen used to boil the octopus with pieces of bark that contained acids which helped tenderize the flesh. It is advisable to cook it in unsalted water to keep it tender. Octopus can also be “drowned” in a mixture of oil, tomato sauce, garlic, parsley and pepper and cooked inside an airtight terracotta pan. Smaller species, called eledone, make a delicious stew. Tentacles are lined with a double row of suckers while eledone have a coriaceous flesh and only one row of suckers. There is an octopus variety known as "polpessa” that bears two tentacles longer than the others, but the flesh is of an inferior quality. The octopus must always be cooked before eating. The squid, similar to the calamary, bears tiny rear triangular fins and is purplish or yellowish in colour. The flesh of bigger squids is less tender. They can be prepared in the same way as the calamari, better if cooked.
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