Thursday 5 July 2012

What lies beneath: Illex illecebrosus

So, I managed to land my first squid last night!  Turns out it is a Northern shortfin squid; aka Illex illecebrosus.


I think it was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.  Getting it in the boat happened rather quickly so I can't recall exactly 'where' I got it with my mackerel jig.  I think it was likely in the non tentacle end (is that the head or tail?  Neither?).


Once it was over the gunwhale, it squirted ink all over the inside of the boat and in the bucket where we stuck it to try to contain that black self defence liquid.


After I arrived home, with the help of a youtube 'how to clean a squid' video, I managed to clean and cut up the tube.  Then, I tossed it in flour and quickly fried it in some hot olive oil.  You'd be hard pressed to find squid fresher than that!