Categories: Fish/sea, Italian, Garlic 
      Yield: 6 servings 
  
      2    Octopus (about 1 1/2 pounds         1    Bay leaf 
           -each)                            1/2 ts Cumin seeds 
    1/4 c  Olive oil                                Salt 
      5    Cloves garlic, crushed              1 sm Green pepper, chopped 
  
  rosemary leaves and parsley 
   
  Cut out the eyes and mouth of the octopus. Remove the ink sac and internal 
  bone. Cut off the tough points in the tentacles. Put each octopus on a 
  board and beat them well to break the fibers and make the meat more tender. 
  Wash them in running water until they are very white; do not dry but put 
  them in an earthen- ware dish and season with oil, flavored with garlic, 
  bay leaf and cumin seeds. Cover the dish tightly with a sheet of waxed 
  paper or foil tied around the top with string. Put the dish over a very low 
  heat between 1 and 2 hours, according to the size of the octopus. When they 
  are tender, drain them, season with additional oil, salt, green pepper, 
  rosemary leaves and parsley. Serve in a tureen. 
   
  From "Feast of Italy", translated from the Italian edition published by 
  Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1973. Consulting Chef, Giorgio Gioco. Thomas 
  Crowell, New York. ISBN 0-690-00059-6 
   
  It doesn't make reference to it in the text, but in the pictures of both 
  these dishes, it shows one or two largish octopi garnished with reseattes 
  of baby octopi tentacles. I imagine you'd do quite well using the 'baby' 
  octopi like those I see sold around here in the supermarkets, or even with 
  squid.