Grilled octopus with potato, cucumber, black olive & wakame

To braise the octopus

• 1kg Fremantle octopus, fresh or frozen with head removed
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp salt
• A few parsley stalks, bay leaves, peppercorns

Mayonnaise

• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 free-range egg yolks
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp of good-quality white vinegar
• Good pinch of sea salt
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 350ml olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon

In a bowl add egg yolks, garlic, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper, and whisk all together making sure they are very well combined. Then slowly pour in the olive oil whisking continuously until all the oil is combined. Season if needed and add lemon juice to adjust the consistency.

For the salad

• 4 kipfler potatoes, peeled, boiled until tender
• 2 tbsp small black olives
• 1 telegraph cucumber, cut in half lengthwise,
• seeds removed, diced
• ½ cup tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 10g dried Tasmanian wakame, soaked in cold
• water for 10 minutes, thinly sliced

Salt and fresh ground pepper

First cook the octopus by placing it in a large saucepan, cover with cold water and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and cook for 1 ½ hours or until octopus is tender. The best way to check when it is ready is to place a bamboo skewer into the thickest part of the flesh and when removed the bamboo should have no resistance. Remove the octopus onto a tray, discarding the liquid and aromatics. When the octopus is cool enough to handle, peel the skin from the flesh, keeping the tentacles intact and slice each octopus leg into 4cm long pieces. Store the octopus in the refrigerator in a sealed container until ready to use; this octopus will last for 3 days.

To prepare the salad, slice the potatoes into 5mm slices, combine in a bowl with the olives, cucumber, olive oil and lemon juice, stir to combine and set aside. On one large platter or 6 plates place a spoonful of mayonnaise onto the centre of the plate then arrange some of the salad on top. Meanwhile, grill the octopus on the barbecue grill or in a hot fry pan until golden and crispy on some edges, place on top of the salad, arrange wakame on top of salad and serve.