charcoal-grilled squid with black olive oil & cucumber

Directions

Black Olive Oil

1. Take the olives out of the brine and place them on a cooling rack and dry overnight in your oven or a dehydrator.

2. Once completely dry, place in a jug blender and blitz, slowly drizzling in the oil until a thick glossy black paste forms. If it is too intense for your palate, you can add more oil to taste. Continue to blitz on high until super smooth.

Char-grilled Squid

1. Take your squid and remove the tentacles in a smooth action to not burst the ink sack. Remove the cartilage out of the centre of the squid, and rinse under a tap briefly to remove any debris.

2. Place on a paper towel to dry off excess moisture, then take the tentacles and cut near the beak to remove the ink sack. Rinse under the tap and dry.

3. Peel your cucumber (reserve the peel for juice) and slice off the outer edges for julienne, reserving all trimmings and seeds for juicing. Aim for around 40g of julienne per portion.

4. Take all the cucumber trimmings and juice in a juicer (or you can use a jug blender and strain). Season with vinegar and pink lake salt.

5. Grill the squid on a high heat for 2-3 minutes, moving frequently so not to dry one side. Remove and dress in the black oil until coated.

6. To assemble, place the squid tubes (whole or sliced into pieces) on a plate, and top with julienned cucumber. Dress the plate with the cucumber juice and garnish with fennel fronds.