Squid
Cleaned raw squid supplies mantle, fins and the edible arm cluster for brodetto alla termolese. Cut the mantle into even pieces and keep it separate from cuttlefish and fish until cooking.
- Identity
- Loligo squid, including the European squid Loligo vulgaris; check the species sold.
- Form
- Raw cleaned mantle, fins and arm cluster.
- Hard parts
- The transparent pen and beak are removed before cooking.
Check inside the mantle
Ask for squid without viscera, ink sac, eyes, beak or pen. Check the cavity for remaining material, then drain and pat dry. Cut pieces to an even size. Keep the prepared squid cold while the stew base cooks, then follow the staged additions in the recipe.
A tube with fins
A squid’s mantle forms a tapering tube with paired fins. It differs from the broad, oval body of a cuttlefish and contains a flexible pen rather than a cuttlebone. The cleaned tube can be sliced into rings or opened into pieces; the form needed here includes the edible arms as well as the mantle.
Cook with it
Buy cleaned squid, not mixed seafood
Check the species name and whether the product is fresh, frozen or thawed. For this form, choose raw cleaned squid with its edible arms. Breaded rings, cooked pieces, cuttlefish and mixed seafood bags have different ingredients or preparation states; their weights cannot simply replace the cleaned squid weight.
Keep the raw form cold
Refrigerate promptly in a covered container, separated from ready-to-eat food. Follow the seller’s storage directions and use-by date. Thaw frozen seafood in the refrigerator, not on the worktop, and keep it cold until cooking.
Sources and citations (5)Last checked October 2026
- Huda Kadhim Ahmed et al., IJLSAR; VLIZ archival copy — retained exact scoped contribution
- Marine Management Organisation / GOV.UK — retained exact scoped contribution
- www.fao.org — retained scoped contribution
- Kashiwada, Recksiek and Karpov, CalCOFI Reports XX1979 — retained exact scoped contribution
- pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov — retained scoped contribution
