A recent work trip to New York threw up the usual dash around town. The working day, 8am-10pm, consisted of heavy prep and cooking in the traditional New York kitchen. We are talking dungeon, below-street level and suitably steamy and frantic. Like a scene from Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, there were slinging plates, grilled meats, delicate poached salmon and pearls of sweat to beat the band. Deep in these kitchens, which service the elite of Manhattan’s 1.8 million residents, is where you get the real flavour of United States. Spanish is the language of choice, hard work the tonic, and everybody has a smile on their face in the city that never sleeps. I find it infectious. The “can do” attitude still pulses through every conversation, albeit with waning confidence.
As each workday came to a close, my team and I resurfaced, broken but not beaten. Street level offered a respite from the heat and a reintroduction to the possibilities of the night. As a chef, the attraction of New York is the never ending choices for eating, with options almost 24/7. In the melting pot of culture, you can eat almost any cuisine in an extremely authentic fashion. Add in the 15 million or so residents in the wider area, and there’s always a party to be had. One evening led us to a restaurant called Penny. The chef had a glittering CV and had turned his focus to raw and grilled seafood at an off-white marble countertop with low lighting, fire and ice. The results were special. Think grilled focaccia with anchovies, surf clams in their own juice, cocktail sauces, barbecue prawns with charred lemon, octopus and olives and all manner of oysters. All washed down with something chilled and a heavy dose of East Village energy.
This leads me to today’s recipes, which use a delicious and often avoided ingredient: squid. These small, boneless molluscs have a bad rep, but are cost-effective, sustainably sourced and delicious – so long as they are cooked quickly or for a long period. Anything in between and you’re in rubber territory.
The first recipe is inspired by our evening in New York. The squid is stuffed with high-impact ingredients and grilled quickly over a barbecue and open flame. They’re then dressed in fiery nduja sausage paste from Italy and service with a chilled glass of white. As barbecue season is in full flow, this is worth the effort. The second recipe is a more traditional calamari with Asian influences. The key here is to crisp them quickly and toss in the heavily seasoned sauce. Simple ingredients, quick cooking, maximum flavour – just the way cooking should be.
