An octopus leap of faith

On 18 August 2019 I posted this photo on my Instagram account.

The caption reads:

“Years ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead eating octopus. Or cooking it. Or posting a photo of it on my Instagram account. Or even making my Instagram account public. You see, I’ve come to realise that it’s the scary things that turn out to be more exciting, the ones most satisfying and, in most cases, even most rewarding. So, here I go! Same as I overcame the apprehension to octopus, I am turning my Instagram public to share my food styling and stories for everyone to see. I hope you keep joining me on this journey.”

Today, I lean on my Octopus again, taking a leap of faith, to launch my blog.

Memory issues

Unlike my delicious friend in the picture, I have a terrible memory.

I have trouble remembering what I did five minutes ago. Hence, it’s not surprising that I can’t fully recall that day in August last year when we shot the octopus. Here’s what I remember:

Our dear friends Félix and Lisette came over for lunch that Saturday. My first leap of faith of that weekend was to cook octopus for the first time. They were brave enough to come and try it.

I watched a ‘how-to’ video on YouTube to scare the octopus properly. The instructions were to shock it in boiling, unsalted water three times and then simmering it for 18 minutes per kilogram.

Next, I remember cutting the tentacles and putting them on the hot plancha over the stove. While it was grilling, I finely diced some onions, minced a little garlic and chopped a big bunch of coriander. Finally, I mixed them with a lot of olive oil, salt, pepper and a splash of fresh lemon juice.

Undeniably lensy

Queue the second leap of faith of that weekend: Félix, who is an amazing photographer, suggested an impromptu photoshoot of the octopus. Although I had only styled a handful of dishes before, I couldn’t deny the mollusc’s lens appeal. So, I agreed.

We set up the marble backdrop in our living room floor. Remembering my food styling training at Leith’s, I reached for my yellow plate started layering the octopus. After a couple of suggestions from Félix, we were ready to shoot.

I may not remember what happened from then on, but I remember I felt alive.

Service!

The rush from that day led me to the third leap of faith of that weekend: to turn my already food-centred, private Instagram account into a public one. That was another baby step on a project I have been unconsciously crafting since early 2017.

I’m writing these lines in September 2020, the year that turned the world inwards and everyone’s lives upside down. In addition, I am a firm believer that life has a way of putting on your table what’s in your menu, and I’m tired of asking the waiter to just bring me whatever’s good.

So, I am looking at the menu and ordering what I want from now on. I want to write about food. Also, I want to make it look great on photos. I want to create food content for a living, because I want to pay the bill with no complains when I reach the end of my dinner.

And with that, here’s today’s leap of faith: welcome to my table.

Have you taken a leap of faith?

Let me know in the comment’s section below!