Polvo Seco

Description: Whole octopus (Octopus vulgaris), open, very dry, red-dish-brown in color and with a hard consistency. Its weight varies between 600 g and 6 kg.

Region: Algarve.

Particularity: Air-dried octopus, brownish in color.

History: The Dried Octopus is characteristically an essential snack in all fairs and festivals in the south of the country. Its origins date back to time immemorial, being associated with the beginnings of fishing and the need to take advantage of the excess fish for times of food shortage. Lately its consumption has been decreasing, due not only to its cost in fresh but also to competition from other more fash-ionable and less traditional products.

Use: At fairs and festivals there are always stalls selling Dried Octopus, roasted on charcoal stoves.

Know-how: Fresh octopus is fished almost all year round using 'covos' (mesh frames in the shape of rectangular boxes with an opening that strangles inwards preventing the animal from leaving) or 'alcatruzes' (clay amphorae). The octopus is then gutted and washed. It is then dipped for a while in brine, then struck and stretched on sticks (thatches) and hung on ropes in the sun for 4 to 5 days to allow maximum exposure. Natural drying, alternately in the sun and in the shade, requires its collection at night on a daily basis.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001