When I looked this up just now, I thought the spelling was different.
I've always seen it spelled Calamari and it was always octopus.
The dictionary also refers to it as squid.
It may be time for me to get a new dictionary!
Anyway, years ago I tried Calamari as a child in the Philippines. My parents scuba dived in
Subic Bay (Sp?). I loved to go on the dives because I was allowed to go out on the boat with them. I would swim in the outrigger arm area of the Banca boat as Tony followed my parents diving below. My mother would frequently show me something from the bottom while she swam upside down. I played in their bubbles and had a grand time! I would point out things on the bottom and Tony would free dive down to retrieve them. I still have the shell he brought up just for me!
I also got one of the worst sunburns of my entire life after swimming for a long time one day. I had to lay on my stomach the entire way home because my back and shoulders were blistered with what was probably a second degree burn. This was also the night my parents bought me 3 black velvet paintings of Batman, Robin, and Donald Duck. I don't remember much else after that, my 7year old self was so happy to get the paintings the burn seemed so far away.
This was the days before sunscreen and before I realized what a day in the water could do to your back! Not that I learned my lesson though, many years later on our first cruise to the Bahamas I got another one. I snorkeled all afternoon and got a burn that left me with a crisscross pattern on my back for the rest of the summer! (No blisters though!) Lesson learned hopefully. I wear a shirt now when snorkeling in the heat so I don't have a repeat performance!
Back to the Calamari. My mother and I considered this a special treat, especially when ordered at Rousso's restaurant downtown. They had the absolute best tasting, fried just right, so tender, and a hot plate full. We ordered a plate one night and offered some to the ladies at our table. The majority of them made a face and said never. Mom and I greedily ate the entire plate together.
Marinara sauce made it perfect.
We were both kinda glad no one wanted to share! The one part I could not eat however were the whole baby ones. Mom loved to eat those with great relish. I've only found one other place that had really great Calamari, one of the casinos in Biloxi. It was on the buffet and they had very little left. When they replenished the buffet, I had a treat of hot tasty tentacles.
Maybe that's why I love to paint octopus so much, so many happy memories!
They never fail me and always are sold quickly. I painted 8 of them in between shows while in Florida and sold every one! I've painted them 3ft x 5ft, 12x24, and 6x6, with many sizes in between.
This guy is 4x12 inches and can stand on a table or be hung.
"Cephalopoda" Acrylic on canvas, 4x12 inches
Day 2 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment