Ask Sal Ruggiero for the best squid in the US Northeast, and he’ll recommend the longfin variety freshly caught off the Rhode Island coast. It’s the tastiest, with a crisp bite—not as soft as imported squid, he says. Ruggiero, known as the “Calamari Kid,” is the general manager of the Joe Monani Fish Co. at the New Fulton Fish Market in Bronx, New York. He sells fresh Rhode Island longfin squid for about $6 a pound, compared with $4 for the frozen stuff shipped in from China and India.
The possibilities for cooking squid, known as calamari in culinary applications, are almost boundless, says Ruggiero: “You could fry it, you could steam it, you could grill it.” Ruggiero eats it at least once a week, sometimes twice. In a restaurant, he says, he can identify the provenance by taste.
