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Fish · In Afrikaans: Calamari op die kole

Calamari off the grid

Squid tubes and tentacles, an hour in garlic, chilli and lemon, then three minutes a side over full coals. Longer would be the mistake.

Calamari are everyday food on the South African coast and are usually deep-fried there. Over coals they are a different thing: smoke meets very mild flesh, and the time at the fire is so short you almost miss it.

Prep
20 min
Marinating
1 hr
On the fire
6 min
Serves
4
Grilled squid tubes and tentacles with lemon
Warburg · CC BY-SA 3.0

How hot

Full heat

You can hold your hand over the grid for 2 seconds · ≈ 230 °C+

Every coal stage explained →

Which wood

Rooikrans

spicy, resinous

More on this wood →

When it goes on

First on the fire

Goes on first, while the coals are at their hottest — steaks, thick chops, and anything that sits in a pot for hours.

Equipment: Grid · Hinged grid

This line

Made at the Capelate 20th century to today

The hinged grid as a baking tin, the packet product as an ingredient, the vegetarian main course at a meat fire.

Method

  1. Prepare the squid

    Cut the tubes open and lay them flat, then score the inside in a diamond pattern without cutting through. They curl as they cook and so cook evenly. Tentacles stay whole.

  2. Marinate

    Mix oil, garlic, chilli, lemon zest, parsley and oregano and chill the calamari in it for an hour. Not more than five — the acid from the zest is enough, and more makes the flesh mealy.

  3. Pat dry

    Drain and blot briefly before they go on. Wet calamari steam on the grid instead of taking colour.

  4. Full coals

    Two seconds on the hand test. That is the hottest setting on this site, and it is right here: only very high heat browns the surface before the inside goes tough.

  5. Cook briefly

    Two to three minutes a side, in a hinged grid or straight on the grid. They are done when they are opaque white and have curled. Nothing good happens after that.

  6. Serve

    Straight onto a platter, season, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze over the grilled lemons.

Tips

  • Squid has exactly two states of doneness: three minutes or forty. Everything in between is rubber. At a fire you take the first.
  • Pieces that are too small fall through the grid. Whole tubes and a hinged grid solve both problems at once.
  • The grilled lemon is not decoration. Its juice is milder and sweeter than raw and tastes noticeably different.

Calamari are the fastest piece of protein that goes on a grid. Six minutes in total, and the last thirty seconds decide whether you get tender flesh or rubber.

The reason is connective tissue. It contracts at around 55 degrees and goes hard; only after very long cooking does it break down into gelatine again. So there are only two correct preparations: very short and very hot, or very long and very gentle. At a fire only the first is available.

And the diamond scoring is not cosmetic. It makes the tube curl evenly instead of buckling — and gives the marinade something to hold onto.

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