Cuttlefish is a broad, oval-bodied cephalopod mollusc — a close cousin of squid and octopus — prized for firm, sweet, snow-white flesh and for the jet of dark sepia ink that colours risotto nero and black pasta. Stouter and meatier than squid, it hides a chalky internal cuttlebone beneath its mantle and changes colour in an instant across its skin. Like all cephalopods its flesh is a texture trap, turning rubbery in the middle window, so it is cooked either fast and fierce or long and slow.