I have yet to cook Octopus at home. I am told that the smell lingers for a long time and I have made this an excuse. There are many mythic aspects to the process including repeated dunking, adding a cork to the water, freezing, brining, bashing against a wall, using a copper pot.
Octopus flesh is far tougher than the flesh of other cephalopods and the general consensus is long slow cooking is required.
