Kalamaria Gemista of the Cyclades (Καλαμάρια Γεμιστά Κυκλάδων)

Kalamaria gemista of the Cyclades are squid tubes filled with rice, chopped tentacles, onion, and herbs, then baked in olive oil and white wine until the rice is tender and the squid gives under the fork. The region is the dish's surname. This is island cooking with a good memory: one modest catch stretched into a proper table, without making noise about it.

The method that decides the dish is the filling. You fill each tube only two-thirds. Rice swells, even when half-cooked, and a packed squid splits open in the pan, which is not a tragedy, just untidy and avoidable. Leave it room, pin the mouth closed, and the tube comes out plump rather than burst.

I keep this version in the Cycladic line, plain and good: no minced meat, no sweet fruit hiding inside, no heavy spice. The tentacles go back into the rice because nothing from the animal should be wasted. Good olive oil, and patience. That is enough.