Catch of the Day
For the past month on P day, I have been in search of the wily octopus. This has required many hours snorkeling in the coastal areas around Kona. I have enlisted the services of one of our temple workers to be my guide and mentor in this quest. Brother Martinez is a born and raised Hawaiian islander. He has been hunting octopus for the past 45 years In the Kona area. He is the go-to-guy for the fish for all of his ward parties, so he is amply qualified to assist me in this undertaking. The Monday ritual is that I call him at 8:00 am Monday, and he answers the phone and I ask what it looks like today. He says there aren't any octopus out there, but do I want to go for a swim. I always say yes. He tells me where and when to meet and we head out at the appointed time. We head to the beach that he wants to go to, and we get out of his car. He seems to know everyone that we meet. I ask him if there is anyone on this island that he doesn't know and he just laughs, but I think that he really does know everyone. He knows every beach that we have gone to like the back of his hand. He can tell me where the best place to get into the water is and where all the natural steps are to get out. We swim around for a couple of hours. Tony looks for octopus, and I am just totally fascinated by the world around me. I can tell you that this world and the creatures on it didn't happen by accident. I sometimes am able to put my mind to concentrating on looking for octopus, but I'm easily distracted. I have seen a couple, but by the time I got down to where they were, they we're gone and I was out of air. Tony, on the other hand, can spot them if there are any around. He grabs them by the head, and they wrap themselves around his arm, and then he bites them between the eyes. He says that that is the most humane way to kill them. We then have to beat them on rocks to tenderize them, scrub the slime off and clean them. He says that he going to cook them up and bring one to the Temple Saturday after the Temple closes for me to eat. Depending on how they taste may determine how excited I will be to go chasing them next Monday. Stay tuned.
Tenderizing the octopus
Scrubbing of the slime
Ready for the pot
