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FOOD 12 | SUNDAY • 23 JUNE 2019 maltatoday • 500g octopus • 350g red wine • 1 half orange • 1 head garlic • 70g kusksu • 3 sprigs fresh thyme • 2 lemons • 2 small onions • 1 small carrot • 1Tbsp toasted pine nuts • 1Tbsp currents • 3 sprigs parsley • 2 sprigs basil • 1Tbsp kunserva • 2Tbsp tomato polpa • 1Tsp capers 1 • 10 caper berries • 4 bay leaves • Salt, as needed • Black pepper, as needed • Olive oil, as needed 1. In a pot place the octopus, thyme, orange, red wine, half of the garlic, one onion skin on, bay leaf and black pepper to taste. Place on a high heat and boil for 2 hours, topping up with water whenever needed. 2. Check to see if the octopus is cooked. If cooked leave it cool in the liquid for around 30 minutes. 3. Peel the skin off the tentacles and reserve them for later use. Cop the head into small cubes and reserve for later. 4. Place a second pot of boiling water on a high heat, and season well with salt. Boil the kusksu for roughly 5 minutes. 5. Remove the kusksu and refresh with cold water to stop the cook- ing. 6. Add a little oil in a sauté pan and place on a low heat. Start by peel- ing and chopping the carrots and onions and cook on a low heat with some salt. Cook till soft. 7. Chop the garlic into slices and add them to pan along with 4 basil leaves, cook for an extra 2 minutes. 8. Add the chopped octopus and the braised skin. Sauté for around 5 minutes on a low heat. Next add the kunserva and cook for a further 30 seconds. 9. Add the octopus stock and the chopped tomatoes to the sauté pan and cook for around 5 min- utes till the stock and polpa have reduced by half. 10. Add the currents, capers, pine nuts and par-cooked kusksu to the pan, add a splash of olive oil and stir constantly till the mixture resem- bles a risotto. 11. Chop the basil and parsley and add them to the pan. 12. Transfer the kusksu to a plate and top with cleaned octopus, caper berries and more fresh basil & toasted pine nuts. 13. Serve as needed. Octopus with kusksu CHARLES GRECH Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro 2014 Penfolds, Australia Bin 2 Shiraz Mataro is a classic Penfolds wine, steeped in nineteenth-century tradition. Typically it is a generous medium-bodied wine based on shiraz, but shot with the aromatics and muscular strength of mataro. It's best to drink early, but like many of Penfolds reds can last the distance in the cellar. Bouquet: Scents of black olive and dark black cherry laced with mixed spices/herbs, Dark chocolate notes and a skerrick of liquorice. Palate: Mataro's green tea-leaf characters immediately apparent, as is Mataro's inky/ rubbly palate imprint. Grainy/particulate/powdery tannins throughout. Ditto, barely perceptible oak (some vanillin, crushed biscotti f lavours). Evocative Shiraz fruits and savouriness dominate the mid-palate. Refreshingly medium-bodied, enticingly textured. Food Affinities: veal, roast chicken, planked salmon. Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co Ltd Valley Road, Birkikara T: 21 444 400 Fine quality Italian wines of tradition Irpina. Donnachiara, winery located in Montefalcione (Avellino), with its vineyards that stretch along the hills typical of the Irpinia, produces white wines and red wines of high quality including Greco di Tufo, Fiano di Avellino, Taurasi DOCG but also sparkling like Santè Falanghina. Soft crushing of the selected grapes and after that cold decanting of the must fermentation at 57-60°F in steel vats for 15 days. Malolatic fermentation is not done. Full expression of it's territory, the heart of Greco di tufo, with a specific attention to all the factors of maturation of it's aroma's. Nose: Offers fruity flavours of pear, apricot, pineapple and citrus Palate: Smooth, elegant and structured, with good freshness and a great persistence that confirms and amplifies the olfactory sensations. Food Affinities: Perfect with all seafood, pasta with light sauces , white meats and herb cheeses Exclusively imported by Charles Grech & Co. Ltd, Valley Road, Birkirkara T: 2144 4400 Donnachiara Greco di Tufo: DONNACHIARA Keith Abela Gourmet Today / Mediterranean Culinary Academy Ingredients Method Serves 2 This recipe first appeared on Gourmet Today TV, June 2019 • Tune in to the last couple of episodes of Gourmet on Thursday at 18:30 on TVM