Hello again all you aspiring underwater chefs!

Don’t you just love the delicious taste of cuttlefish? Mmmm. Don’t know about you, but for me that nasty ink really ruins the soft, tasty flesh – and let’s not even get started on the bone. Yuck!

Well folks, today I’m going to show you a quick an easy way of preparing a cuttlefish, for a fast and nutritious snack. And you won’t need any cooking equipment…. or even any functional arms. All you need is a sturdy snout.

First you’re going to need to get hold of a nice juicy cuttle. I recommend the Spencer Gulf, off South Australia, where they come together in huge numbers for a bit of you-know-what, every year from May to August. You should have no trouble seeking out a slightly *ahem* worn out individual. First you need to get them out onto open sand – I’m sure you can all manage that part! Next you need to dispatch your lunch as quickly as possible. Position yourself above the cuttle, pointing your body vertically down. Now, there’s a bit of a knack to this next part, so you might need to practice, but what you need to do is drive yourself down, hard, using a tail beat, and add a bit of a twist. This kills them instantly.

Now your meal isn’t trying to get away, you need to prepare it. Presentation is everything! First: that ink. Lift the cuttle up into the water column and then beat it with your snout – this forces the ink out. Repeat until there’s not so much ink coming out, and now you’re ready to deal with the bone.

Bring your cleaned cephalopod back down to the sea bed and place it on its back. Push it along the sand….and…hey presto! Rubbing it on the seabed strips the skin off the back and that annoying bone just pops out.

After that you’re left with a wholesome and tasty snack. Prepared in next to no time!

Below is our special cut-out-and-keep quick reference card, so you don’t forget how to prep your cuttle.

Happy Hunting!

6 easy steps to a tasty snack!

Julian Finn, Tom Tregenza, Mark Norman (2009). Preparing the Perfect Cuttlefish Meal: Complex Prey Handling by Dolphins PLoS ONE, 4 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004217