Squid Ink
By: Anonymous

About

          Literally the ink extracted from squid, often used to color    and flavor Italian and Spanish rice and pasta dishes.
          Squid ink is dark black in color and imparts food with a   deep flavor of the sea.
           squid ink does not allyways add a plesent taste it can    also taste like iodine if used to much. make sure to use it in the   rite way so it doesn't taste like iodine.i dont know about you
but i do not like iodine at all.so dont wreck good food with it
food is going up in price i dont think you want to wreck food
because of a stupid mistake of adding to much squid ink.   !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Information
Other names: Tinto De Calamar, Cephalopod ink, Nero Di Sepia
Translations: Kalmārs Ink, Καλαμάρια μελάνης, Kalmarai rašalo, حبر الحبار, Encre de seiche, イカ墨, 스퀴드 잉크, Лигња Мастило, Mực Ink, קלמארי דיו, Blæksprutte Ink, Pusit Tinta, Blekksprut-blekk, विद्रूप इंक, De tinta de calamar, 乌贼墨, Mustekalan musteella, De tinta de calamar, Калмар Мастило


Physical Description
A fresh squid has reddish-brown spots on a white or cream-colored body.  Squid ink is blue-black.
Colors: Blue-black


Tasting Notes
Flavors: Salty, earthy,iodine
Mouthfeel: Sticky, Liquidy
Food complements: Pasta dishes
Wine complements: Chardonnay, Sparkling wine
Beverage complements: Love yal who made this site it is cool but you should make another that cant be edited
Substitutes: Caviar, Iodine, Saltwith waterand flour


Selecting and Buying
Seasonality: january, march, may, july, september, november
Peak: february, april, june, august, opctober, december
Choosing: If you purchase squid, make sure they are still whole- if they're pre-cleaned all of that wonderful ink will be gone!
A fresh squid has reddish-brown spots on a white or cream-colored body- if the flesh has started to turn pink or smell, buy your squid elsewhere. Boxes of frozen squid should be solid, without evidence of leakage or freeze-thawing. Small squid are tastier and easier to cook, but they have less ink. 
Buying: Look in seafood stores or up-scale groceries, fish markets.wallmart in europe china canada and southern U.S california all year round. nice rite yea
Procuring: Ink can be harvested from fresh squid by carefully squeezing them to express the ink. You can also cut out the ink sacs and express the ink from them.


Preparation and Use
Often used to color pasta.  It is flavored with squid or cuttlefish ink, which turns it black.  It's best served with shellfish.
A classic way to show off your hard-won squid ink is to give color to pasta or rice. When adding your squid ink either strain it in as for printing, or simply dump it in, ink sacs and all. The sacs are perfectly edible, and generally unnoticeable unless particularly large. Rinse the ink bowl with a bit more liquid, and scrape with a stain-proof spatula to make sure you've got it all.
Cleaning: Extracting squid ink from two sources- the main ink sac in the body, and small secondary deposits behind the eyes.
First, pull the head and tentacles out of the body cavity. The guts will come along with the head: look for the small thin silvery sac about halfway along.
Carefully detach the ink sac, taking care not to puncture it. It's attached at the ends, so just slip your knife underneath and cut away from the center to remove it. 
IT IS VERRY HARD DONT BOTHER TRYING BUY IT ALLREADY CLEANED AND EVERYTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!      
lier do it yourself



Conserving and Storing
Be sure to use the ink immediately, or refrigerate it for use soon- just like squid, the ink will start to smell if you leave it out.


Social/Political
Often associated with Greek and Italian cuisine. The ink has been traditionally used in many cultures as writing ink.