Next week I have invited old friends who are passing through and old friends who live here to dinner. We used to eat together frequently and I aim looking forward to another great bash.
I want to serve octopus coctel, a Mexican cold dish of tomatoes, peppers, onion, cucumber, avocado, chopped up very small mixed with lots of tender octopus. You put the mix in a glass and fill it with Clamato. Delicious!
Buying octopus is a stressful business as sometimes there are none on offer at the fish market for weeks on end. I visit frequently but there are none to be had. There are only two fish stalls that sell them and they have been octopus free. I am getting nervous. I ask one of the fishmongers if he could phone me if he gets any. After 10 days there is no news. I fear that I will have to abandon my octopus dish.
However on Thursday, today is Saturday, post more dental fun that I will not bore you with, I rush through the fish market.
Sapristi! There is a beautiful very big octopus!
This afternoon I get a phone call. It is the other fish seller. “Neil san I have a beautiful octopus for you.”
I could not possibly tell him that I probably had more octopus than I needed and head down to Tomari harbor.
I walk back through the fish market and pass the other octopus seller. He has 3 wonderful octopi! I had to use enormous self control to not buy them all.
More food stuff. There was an American food writer Antony Bourdain whom I find very pretentious but he got one thing right. Lawson’s is the best shop of all and in particular their sandwiches are addictive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1LOiRfMc08
They are always so fresh, soft white bread with a variety of fillings. They are so cheap.
I see Pacific Swallows sitting on the road. This is very unusual as they are normally zooming around at high speed.
I feel so much happier with a stock of octopus.
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
Great octopi! Just love to get my hands on them here but they’re never seen in the markets/shops near me here. There used to be a local fishmonger who’d ring me up at school when he got any interesting by-catch in. I’d head down to his shop at lunchtime to pick up whatever he had in the way of octopus or cuttlefish and put it in the sink of my classroom until home time. There would be a stream of kids making excuses to visit my room to see the octopus once the word got out!
Have you made the coctel? Has the meal happened? Sounds wonderful- my mouth waters at the thought.
Could do with some Naha weather here. It’s been very wet and now getting pretty cool. All the best!
Hi Alan,
See most recent post for details. The octopus was fantastic but unfortunately I overcooked the lamb! Oh well. Keep warm and dry.
Thanks! Always delightful to receive your missives.