Do you care that your squid ink is from the cuttlefish? Should you care? Probably not. Unless you want jet black color.
The squid has an “ink†that is a super deep purple and not as viscous as the cuttlefish, which produces a jet black jelly like “inkâ€. It is awesome stuff.
The ink is all about healthy good stuff and though the research is limited, melanin may have some amazing benefits to your health. And melanin is what makes the rich color happen. The ink also has polysaccharides, copper, calcium, cadmium, and amino acids like alanine, aspartic, leucine and taurine acid.
In history the ink has been used for writing, medicine, cosmetics, art and for food! What can you do with this black ink?
Make your risotto black. Make your pasta black. Make your croissants and bread black. Your cookies, ice cream, waffles, what fun to change things around. Think of the pasta or the rice as a background for a colorful topping like a lobster.
Even more exciting is to make something new… don’t overwhelm the plate with all black, though that’s pretty cool. Take something unexpected and turn it black!
It’s art first!
The flavor is everything from nothing to the sea. The deeper the color invasion the richer the umami flavor of the sea you will get. It only takes a little to make a change and the flavor is an enhancer.
Octopus is a type of mollusk with 8 tentacles. A Nautilus is a mollusk and can have 90. The squid and the cuttlefish are Cephalopoda, which is also a type of mollusk. They have 8 arms and 2 tentacles.
Squid are sleeek and fast with a flexible body called a pen. Cuttlefish are broader and slower. They move by undulating long fins broader with an internal shell called the cuttlebone. Cuttlefish are part of the order Sepiida which include the flamboyant cuttlefish and the striped pajama squid. Squid are part of the order called Teuthida which includes the Caribbean reef squid, giant squid and the short-finned squid. And it is true that the vampire squid is the sole member of the Vampyromorphida order.
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We at ChefShop are committed to finding and offering the best rare ingredients in the world. Our small batch products are made by personally selected local and international artisans, dedicated to preserving and sometimes reinventing food traditions!
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Best Cocoa Ever
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Our favourite cocoa
I have 8 varieties of cocoa at home -- red cocoa, black cocoa, natural cocoa, and several high-end specialty cocoas (Barry Extra Brut, Valrhona, Guittard, Ghirardelli...). My family goes through enormous quantities of cocoa powder -- for hot cocoa, brownies, chocolate cakes, cookies... and this is by far our favourite. It has depth, complexity, and richness. While the specialty cocoas are excellent, I find they can sometimes be quite bitter, lack richness or body. This one is always perfect for whatever we are making. And being in Canada, I go to great lengths to buy this cocoa -- that should tell you how much we love it! - Monika
At the end of the week, after all the news has been digested, I look to ChefShop’s newsletter as my respite to life. On Sunday, I curl up in bed with my newsletter to forget about the weeks news, and think about romance. The romance of food!
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