For the first time in a long time I had a hankering for home-cooked calamari. Back in the 1980's it was plentiful and cheap, and I became reasonably proficient at cleaning and slicing squid.
I was surprised to see that Safeway did not carry calamari, either fresh or frozen. I searched Lucky supermarket and got the same result.
Finally, I went to 99 Ranch, which has a large selection of fresh fish and shellfish, but I had to go to the frozen section to find calamari.
The 99 Ranch freezer had a half-dozen calamari items, and most were from mainland China. The one box that was sourced in the USA was more expensive ($19 for three pounds) than the Chinese products, but I wasn't going to risk consuming a product that probably had
higher levels of heavy metal contamination.
The box label said that the squid was "wild caught in area FAO77." Below is the
world fishery map from Wikipedia. Area 77 is the Eastern Central part of the Pacific Ocean.
The squid is defrosting in the refrigerator. In a few days I'll wash, clean, and braise it. If it turns out well, I'll be returning to 99 Ranch for another box.
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