Cuttlefish (Squid) Ink - Spain

Cuttlefish (Squid) Ink

3.2 oz jar - Spain

The ink of the Cuttlefish from Spain

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 “ink”. 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.

Have fun! It’s Magic!