I've noticed that my octopus recipes have been getting a lot of attention lately, so I reckoned I ought to provide you with a way to tenderize what can otherwise be an incredibly chewy critter.

Octopus can be so rubbery it's inedible, but properly prepared it is dense, sweet and richer than lobster. And it's cheap: I bought a five-pounder at a Mexican market the other day for $10.

The trick is to braise the octo for ages over a bed of herbs at very low heat. This is how a lot of Greeks do their octopus, and the renowned food scientist Harold McGee codified this technique in a recent New York Times article.

My directions are a combination of what I learned from years of trial and error, with a little help from McGee.