Coal grilled SA squid with black olive oil and cucumber

Ashly Hicks - The Garden State Hotel, Serves 4

Ingredients

For the black oil

200g Pitted mount zero Kalamata
100ml Mount zero Frantoio olive oil

For the squid

800g local whole squid 
Continental cucumber
Fennel fronds 
Apple cider vinegar


Method

For this dish, we counteract the sweet smaller-sized squid (8cm) with a briney salty black olive oil and then freshen the whole dish with raw cucumber julienne and juice. Lightly grill the squid on your bbq it takes around 2-3 mins max you really do not want to over cook it!!!!

For the black oil
Take the Kalamatas out of the brine and place them on a cooling rack and dry overnight in your oven or if you have a dehydrator. Once completely dry place in a jug blender and blitz slowly drizzle in the oil until a thick glossy black paste forms, if it is too intense for your palate you can add more oil. Blitz on high until super smooth. Reserve for service

For the squid
Take your squid and remove the tentacles in a smooth action to not burst the ink sack, remove the bone out of the centre of the squid, rinse under a tap briefly to remove and debris place on a paper towel to dry off excess moisture, take the tentacles and cut near the beak to remove the ink sack. Rinse under the tap and dry also

Peel your cucumber (reserve the peel for juice) slice off the outer edges for julienne reserving all trimmings and seeds for juicing. You need around 40g of julienne per portion. Take all the trim and juice in a juicer or you can use a jug blender and strain. Season with vinegar and salt.

Grill the squid on a high heat and move frequently so not to dry one side put remove and dress in the black oil until coated. To assemble place the squid tubes whole (if they are the right size otherwise slice into pieces) place the julienne on top and dress the plate with the juice and garnish with the fennel fronds.

Recipe Ingredients from the Mount Zero Range

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