I admit it; I went to a
Chinese buffet the other night with a few coworkers. I usually avoid
cheap renditions of the cuisine I so cherish and I steer clear of most
buffets because they lack good service and fresh food. Maybe that’s a
little snobby. This was a special occasion. We were on the way to the
theatre and wanted to have an early dinner before seeing the show. After
spending too much cash on tickets, we wanted a cheap way out on dinner.
I suggested some of the restaurants near the Opera House inspired
theatre downtown because they usually offer specials from 5 to 7,
knowing they will turn and burn tables and get hungry people in and
full, rushed theatre goers out in a hurry.
Nope, they wanted to eat
in the burbs, so there we were in a Chinese buffet that had an entire
steam table of “American food,” mostly friend goodies, mac and cheese,
and spaghetti.
“This is a pregnant
lady’s paradise,” cooed my pregnant coworker who delighted in the
variety of food already available. She hates waiting for meals at
restaurants when she’s already hungry. And there’s a lot of food.
“Look… calamari. Oh,
wait, no, its squid,” she said with a disappointed tone.
“That’s the same thing,”
I said, not believing she didn’t know that calamari is the Italian word
for squid, most commonly used because the idea of eating a squid can
make people squeamish. Calamari in this coworker’s world must be netted
out of the sea already battered, ready to be deep fried, doused with
marinara, and sprinkled with a splash of lemon juice.
I also admit in the
confession on food, that I do enjoy crispy fried calamari with tomato
sauce or a garlicky aioli, especially when cooks take time to make the
batter a little different. I used to work for a beachside restaurant
that offered it with panko and they drizzled spicy vinegar on it and
tossed it with pickled banana peppers. I didn’t care for that because it
seemed like they were trying a little too hard.
I had some recently in
North Carolina that was billed as fresh, but last time I checked squid
doesn’t roam on the coast of the Carolinas.
I don’t love fishy
flavors; often I don’t enjoy sushi because the nori, or seaweed paper,
tastes too much like the ocean. I absolutely do not like salmon or other
oily fish, despite that women’s diets should be rich in omega fatty
acids found in these fish. I skip it. And I don’t care for most fish
because of that flavor, but I do like squid with its sweet, subtle
flavor. I also enjoy crab, lobster and shrimp, which I believe have more
delicate sea flavors than most fish. I love calamari fried, but I also
think its spectacular tossed in salads or in pasta. I have a recipe I
clipped that I’ve been meaning to make that is a coconut stew that has
calamari along with scallops, another delicate seafood I enjoy. I think
this experience of educating my coworker on what exactly those crispy
brown rings are made me realize how little I know about squid, and how
little I’ve experimented with it. I too usually stereotype it as a great
appetizer with an Italian meal, but I overlook it as an ingredient in
much else. I’m on a mission now to explore the world of calamari, or
calmar, as the French say, kalmar, as German say, or
pijlinktvis as the Dutch put it. Okay, now
I see why we call it calamari. I’ll keep you updated on my quest to cook
squid in new and fun ways, and I’ll be honest with failures and
successes!
