What’s going on here?
What are we cooking.
It’s a holiday thing.
So we’re making this kind of Vigilia buffet.
For us Italians it’s all about fish.
Octopus is always on the table.
They call Christmas Eve Vigilia in Italy.
And for Italians it means cooking fish all
day and eating it all night.
Now I need this.
You’re going to keep your jacket on?
Sure.
Just grab the octopus, come over here.
I want you to pick it up, get it in there.
Oh wow.
There you go.
That is a big octopus.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
But it shrinks, you know.
It shrinks.
Go ahead.
Okay.
In boiling water.
We drop some bay leaves and then you cook
it for about 45 minutes
and this is what comes out.
Well that feels good.
This is for what you did to my dad.
Don Cheech  this is for you.
Well now you’re an expert.
My grandmother used to do boiled octopus with
warm potatoes
and then a little bit of onions and olive and capers.
Parsley.
Some olive oil.
Red wine vinegar.
And you can go in there with your hands.
You can go in.
I’ll give it a toss.
That’s pretty, right?
But taste it.
Go right in.
Take a piece.
Is it missing a little salt?
It’s delicious.
The octopus is cooked so perfectly.
Could anything be prettier?
I think not.
It’s beautiful.
And more octopus.
Simmered in garlic, olives, a little red pepper.
The octo juice that comes out of this thing
while cooking, magical.
The juice that releases, that is what cooks
ultimately the octopus.
Guys, you got to taste your way around.
I know you’ll eat later but I want you to
taste this.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
Isn’t it good?
That is fantastic.
Good stuff.
Ah, okay.
We’re setting up the buffet here.
And frutti di mare.
You got to have that.
Pasta with clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp.
So where did this notion come from that somehow
it, you know a proper tomato sauce takes
you know, hours.
What’s up with that?
Sunday sauce.
That’s the long.
Because you’re cooking meat in it.
Meat and…
Right.
…you get different complexity.
But you want a nice marinara sauce.
It’s done.
It’s done in five, six, seven minutes.
You don’t need more than that.
So this is just the exemplary kind of the
core of a Vigilia at our house.
But the octopus must be there which ever fashion.
The salad is always there.
.
And always the baccalà.
Always.
Well you know guys I really had fun.
I did too.
And happy holidays.
I’m delighted I got a chance to share with
you.
A life dream for me.
Yeah?
Yeah me too.
Okay, we have to do it again.
That’s all there is to it.
