I rarely go to Wal-Mart, but they're pretty good
on small appliances, so I went there to get a
coffeemaker for my Mom. While there, I checked
out the canned fish section. What caught my eye
was the Pampa canned octopus from Spain. At only
$1.38 for a 4 oz. can, how bad could it be?

Not bad at all. In fact, one of the best canned
seafoods I've ever bought. Slices of tentacle
in a bland vegetable oil. I wasn't going to drive
all the way back to buy more, though the thought
crossed my mind. But then I remembered that a
Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market opened much closer to
me recently. My sister told me it was like a
supermarket, just food.

So, I checked it out. It's a big supermarket.
The vegetable section isn't that big, but the
rest of it is like the largest Safeway stores.
It also has a housewares and OTC drug section.

Prices are usually very good. Fresh brocolli
is only $1.54/lb right now, when everybody else
is charging $2.49 or $2.99, and the quality is
very good. I buy a lot of brocolli, so that
gives me a reason to go there. Lindt 90% bars
are also good, I think $2.85.

They had a place on the shelf for the octopus,
but no cans. It wasn't until my third trip
that they 'em, so I bought all 12 cans. Since
then, I scooped up another batch of 11. I've
only used up 11 cans total, including the first
one, so now I don't feel so pressed to buy every
can I see.

The octopus is very good drained, then eaten
with the Shirakiku wasabi oil. Minced shallots
goes good with that too.