needed to qualify as "soul-scintillating".  Noshing on octopus, in my opinion, is gnarly.  Eeewwww.

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I should probably point out here that I have "issues" with all seafood.  It stems back to my formative childhood years when I was severely scarred by seafood trauma.  No amount of therapy could possibly undo the damage.  I'm a lost cause.

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Growing up on the water in Southampton, NY.  I witnessed many a fish kill.  And I don't mean the environmental kind when dead fish start washing up on shore due to some sort of ocean mishap.  I mean fish murders.

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My grandfather, a native of Portugal, was an avid fisherman.  We would fish from the shore.  We would wish off the dock.  We would fish off the boat.

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Nana, another Portuguese native and therefore genetically wired to love fish, would wait at home ready to cook it, fry it, grill it, bake it -- whatever she had in mind that particular evening.

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One fateful summer afternoon, I decided that I had "seen too much".  I was around the tender and sensitive age of 8 and nearing the height of m

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Did I write about this in sushi blog post?  check

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But mia cugini and fellow tour group -- ALL adventurous eaters with Octopussy on their plates -- wouldn't zip it.  They were relentless. The taunting continued for several minutes.  The never-ending bottles of wine only fueled the harrassment.

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In order to shut everyone up and enjoy my dinner in peace (a soul-scintillating pay-off, at least!), I held my breath, closed my eyes, stuffed a piece in my mouth and chewed.  And chewed.  And chewed.

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If you've eaten octopus before, then you know exactly what I'm talking about it.  If you haven't, imagine chewing a piece of salty, seaweed-infused piece of rubber.

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How delicious.  I can see exactly why everyone loaded up on their plates.  To think that I have been missing out on this culinary wonder all these years!  I think that during my next PMS episode, I will intensely crave octopus rather than chocolate.  Octopus is so .... enticing.

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Hardly.

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Personally, I think people eat it for attention.  A food badge of courage.

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I'll pass on the octopus, but please do pass the tiramisu.

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PUT DOGS OF TUSCANY AS ANOTHER LOST FOOTAGE -- HAVE THEM ALL TOGETHER.  ELISABETTA, OLIVE OIL MILL, CICCA'S, MONTEBELLI