Braised octopus with pasta (Χταπόδι με κοφτό μακαρόνι)

Here's PART 2 of our adventures in Athens.

The little laughing olive tree
went into mourning recently.
"We're fasting from most meat products,
until the forty days have passed."

(When loved ones die, tradition states
that one must fast for forty days.)



So when I saw her up in Athens
I wondered what she'd find to feed us.
As I opened up the fridge
a great big octopussy grinned



right back at me from in its bowl.
"Is it alive?" I began to howl.
"Oh no," assuringly she said.
"Believe me, it's as good as dead."

"What are you going to do with it?"
"It's on the lunch menu," she said.
"And how do you intend to cook it?"
"According to the book with favorite



Greek food from Kiwi homes down under;
Just look in here: I think you've got one."
She passed me the book with the recipes
collected by the NZ Greek community.



And then she cooked the octopus
with some tomato and pasta tubes.
"What will your children eat?" she asked
"Just say the octo's sausages

and that this kind of macaroni
is coming soon to shops in Kriti."
We all partook of this great dish;
Kalofagas cooks just like this.



(P.S.: My kids begrudgingly ate the fishy pasta, but weren't convinced about the 'sausages'.)

For more Athenian adventures, check out PART 1; PART 3 is coming up.

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.