Seasonal suppers: Money down and squids in

It's the season for Irish squid. It comes into Greencastle, in Donegal. It's line caught and very beautiful. I didn't grow up with squid on my table. I never imagined it could come from Ireland.

The first time I saw squid was as a young chef in the 1990s. The head chef asked me to clean it. I found a half-eaten baby John Dory inside one of them. It’s hard to remember being that squeamish but when I saw the half-digested head a few expletives left my mouth. Grow up, said the head chef! A few years back I found a 1kg shark inside a very large squid. This time I thought, could I cook this? Thankfully, I didn’t. How we change!

I’m sure most people aren’t fond of squid guts. My friend, Matt Orlando of AMASS in Copenhagen makes a cracker from them so as not to waste any of the fish.

I've always associated it with Spain. When I first travelled to Spain in my early 20s I loved sampling the many fried squid tapas of the bars of Barcelona. When we opened Cava in 2008, I knew fried squid with lemon and garlic would be on our menu. It has stayed there ever since. Its popularity is probably on second to Patatas Bravas (more on that next week.)

To fry squid, you need a deep fryer. A deep fryer does not burn your house down. Nor are they unhealthy. Have your ever googled the calorie content of chip vs a roast potato? Why do we swoon at the sight of a TV chef spilling olive oil over baby potatoes and think it’s any different to deep frying a chip?

Image is everything in our world.

You'll find a good video on YouTube for preparing whole squid for frying. All I'll say is that scoring the flesh is important as its helps cook the squid. It also makes the squid look more attractive because it curls.

To fry the squid, heat your oil to 175C. Dredge the squid in flour and fry for 1 minute. Drain and toss in some fresh parsley and garlic oil. Season with a little sea salt and serve with some lemon mayonnaise.