The Squid Ink and Octopus Martini

This one goes by many names…

The Octopus-tini
The Octopussy Martini
The Loch Ness Monstini
The Nautilus-tini
The Maritime Martini
The Tako-tini (tako no matini / タコのマティーニ)
And finally, the Spectre Martini

Add squid ink and octopus tentacle soaked in balsamic vinegar to make an unusual variation of a dirty martini and Le Jacques Coustini.

Get yourself some sea legs by drinking one or two of them. You will need:

Olives in brine
Squid ink
Balsamic vinegar (possibly sweet mirin as well if you fancy being fancy)
Boiled octopus tentacle (other seafood garnishes such as langoustine can be used as a substitute if desired). The octopus tentacle can be prepared from frozen as well as fresh.
Perhaps some seafood to serve as an accompaniment (optional – and see here for some ideas)
Vermouth
And finally, the hard stuff: gin/vodka (perhaps a brand with a maritime or seafood connection)

First of all, I went to Borough Market, which pretty much supplies everything you need for a martini.

I bought whelks and cockles as an unusual accompanying snack.

I also bought some squid ink.

When I got home I took some cooked octopus tentacles out of the freezer and soaked them in balsamic vinegar for several hours. There’s all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff in my freezer – here’s why.

You only need to soak the octopus for enough time for it to defrost but after 4 hours it will have absorbed a lot of flavour which is good. You could also soak it in a slightly japanese marinade combining balsamic vinegar and sweet mirin, of around 4 parts vinegar to 1 part mirin.

Remove the octopus pieces and pierce them with toothpicks (unless you want them to appear au naturale draped over the rim of your glass).

When drink o’clock arrives open the olives and pour some of the brine into a glass. Serve the olives to your guest(s). I use Fragata tinned olives stuffed with anchovies, because (a) the fish continues the maritime theme and (b) they taste amazeballs. The brine is also very good.
For each martini you intend to make transfer 4 teaspoons of the brine into a separate glass.
Into this glass squeeze about half a teaspoon of squid ink per martini and muddle it until it has broken into small globules. This is your brine and ink mixture to flavour and colour the martini. If I think back to chemistry class this might be called an emulsion but martinis have made me forget and I would have to defer to someone with superior knowledge.
In a chilled martini glass pour the brine and ink mixture (as above, 4 teaspoons of brine and half a teaspoon of ink per martini).
Add a dash of vermouth (or to taste) then stir.
Add 4-5 measures of gin or vodka then stir.
Rinse the vinegar off the octopus tentacle and balance it on the edge of the glass.
You can serve additional octopus tentacles with toothpicks as appetisers.

And there you go, it looks like some frightful creature crawling out from the deep of the black lagoon but I promise you it tastes nice. The brine and seafood will hopefully set off your appetite before a meal.