By now just about everyone has heard about Paul the German Octopus (actually Paul is English-born and a naturalized German) who has been accurately predicting the outcomes of Germany’s World Cup match.
Of course its (or should it be “his” now?) latest correct prediction was Spain’s victory over its/his adopted country, Germany, in yesterday’s World Cup semi final.
At the end of one of my posts on Paul’s amazing oracle skills–that time predicting Spain’s win over Germany–I jokingly mentioned that “if Paul the Octopus turns out to be correct again, I wonder if Germany has a witness protection program for octopuses.”
Well, it turns out that Paul may very well need some form of protective custody.
After Paul’s latest prediction turned out to be accurate, the public sentiment among Germans has suddenly and drastically changed from admiration and respect to downright ugliness, loathing and hate.
The internet is full of nasty messages and threats against the poor cephalopod–and full of octopus recipes.
Already yesterday, a reader in Germany sent us an octopus recipe:
Place wine and balsamic in a saucepan with octopus. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain octopus, place in a bowl with soy, tomato sauce and sweet chili sauce. Stir to combine. Heat barbecue to high and grill octopus for 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked or lightly charred. Garnish with parsley.
It’s not clear from this recipe whether clairvoyant Paul should be placed in the wine and balsamic while still alive–I know, that lobsters are boiled “alive.” However, other German reactions leave no doubt as to the level of discomfort they would like Paul to experience while being transformed from an innocent, psychogenic octopus to a tasty presentation on someone’s dinner plate.
At one of those blogs we read (I will not vouch for the spelling):
It is not easy to be a ‘clairvoyant’ octopus and perhaps ‘Paul’ should have just stuck to being an aquarium thingie and not reach too high socially – after all octopi should know there place – they should be seen… behind glass… and not heard from.
Looking ahead then, the four futures beyond ‘Sea Life’ aquarium in Oberhausen for ‘Paul’ could be called:
1-BBQ Garlic Octopus
2-Chili Lemon Octopus
3-Spanish Braised Octopus in Paprika Sauce
4-Polpi in Umido — Italian Octopus Stewed in Wine and Tomatoes
For those who love octopus, there is a veritable bonanza of recipes out there.
When a celebrity is in the business of predicting the outcomes of World Cup matches, he or it is bound to disappoint, even alienate, the losing party.
When Paul correctly predicted Argentina’s loss to Germany in the quarter final, Argentines threatened to make Paella out of Paul. The newspaper El Dia gave a very simple but effective recipe for Paul: “All you need is four normal potatoes, olive oil for taste and a little pepper.”
Ah, the price of fame.
Finally, to my readers–if I have any left–I promise that this will be the last “Paul the Octopus” report, unless…
