Pieces of tinned octopus in golden olive oil with sliced garlic, beside stuffed squid in black ink sauce and a small dish of octopus pâté on toast, on a pale stone surface

José Gourmet's Octopus and Squid, and the Artists Who Draw Them

September 29, 2026

José Gourmet, a Portuguese conservas house, was founded in 2008 by Luís Mendonça and Adriano Ribeiro, and its tins carry drawings, each signed by one of the artists on its roster of illustrators. The roster began with twelve Portuguese children's illustrators and, according to Monocle, has grown to almost ninety.

Who makes it

A profile from the Portuguese newspaper Observador, republished in the brand's press archive, names Ribeiro as the pilot and Mendonça as a university design professor. Both were living and working in Macau, and they had noticed how little weight Portuguese food carried in the international market. Mendonça told Atlas Lisboa that the first products were cheeses. Distribution proved difficult, so the partners turned to products with a longer shelf life, and tinned fish is now the core of the range.

The brand's concept page explains the name. José, it says, is "aquele que acrescenta," the one who adds, from the name's Hebrew root, a name both Portuguese and universal. The page describes an honest relationship with suppliers and customers, and fair commerce with producers who work with care and responsibility and deserve an equal return. It says the brand looks for artisanal products made carefully, with the best ingredients and with their natural integrity and nutritional richness preserved. The same site lists four other brands under an "Amigos," or Friends, heading: ABC+, ATI Manel, Maria Organic and Iconic Sardines. Among the ATI Manel tins is an octopus in garlic sauce (shop ATI Manel Octopus in Garlic Sauce).

The drawings

The concept page credits Mendonça, who illustrates under the name Gémeo Luís, with the design and art direction across the range. The illustrators page names André Letria, Yara Kono, Bernardo Carvalho, Madalena Matoso and João Vaz de Carvalho among the artists. Mendonça told Atlas Lisboa: "Each image, although belonging to a series, is unique and signed by someone."

The product pages credit Emílio Remelhe for the octopus in olive oil and garlic, João Drumond for the octopus with piri-piri and João Vaz de Carvalho for the squid stew. The catalogue listing credits Daniel Lima for the stuffed squid in ink and Teresa Lima for the cuttlefish pâté. The two octopus pages and the squid stew page also credit the text to the writer Eugénio Roda and the recipes to the chef Luís Baena, so each of those three tins credits an illustrator, a writer and a cook.

The octopus and squid range, tin by tin

The table sets out José Gourmet's octopus, squid and cuttlefish tins by name. The Portuguese name is the one in the producer's catalogue, and the origin column follows the producer's own product pages.

Tin	Producer's Portuguese name	Origin the producer states	Illustrator
shop Octopus in Olive Oil with Garlic	Polvo em Azeite e Alho	Northeast and Eastern Central Atlantic	Emílio Remelhe
shop Spiced Octopus in Olive Oil	Polvo em Azeite com Piri-Piri	Atlantic	João Drumond
shop Stuffed Squids in Ink	Lulas Recheadas em Tinta	Not stated	Daniel Lima
shop Spiced Calamari in Ragout Sauce	Closest catalogue match: Lulas de Caldeirada	Atlantic and Pacific oceans (per the Lulas de Caldeirada page)	João Vaz de Carvalho (per the Lulas de Caldeirada page)
shop Octopus Pâté	Paté de Polvo	Not stated
shop Stuffed Octopus in Olive Oil	Not in the current online catalogue	Not stated	Not stated
shop Cuttlefish in Ink with Shrimp Pâté	Paté de Choco com Tinta e Camarão	Not stated	Teresa Lima

The producer says the garlic octopus pairs octopus with two basic ingredients, olive oil and garlic, which give it a particular aroma without changing the taste the octopus is loved for, and it describes octopus as low in calories and rich in vitamin B12. The piri-piri page is shorter: a mollusc with delicious flesh whose soft texture makes it a singular delicacy. The catalogue page for Lulas de Caldeirada lists spice, pepper, clove and bay leaf, and says the simplicity of the recipe keeps the quality and freshness of the fish. Three of the tins have olive oil in the name, and the olive oil buying guide explains what the grades on a bottle mean. For the wider Portuguese tradition these tins belong to, the Portugal conservas guide covers the canneries, and the Galicia rías guide covers the Spanish coast to the north.

The rest of the José Gourmet range

Beyond the octopus and squid, the same illustrated sleeves cover sardines in extra virgin olive oil (shop José Gourmet Sardines in Extra Virgin Olive Oil), sardines with lemon (shop José Gourmet Sardines with Lemon) and sardines in Azores butter (shop José Gourmet Sardines in Azores Butter). That last tin has its own write-up, the José Gourmet Azores butter sardines guide. There are mackerel fillets in olive oil, in curry and in moqueca sauce, and trout fillets with dill and fennel. The list runs on to ventresca tuna (shop José Gourmet Ventresca Tuna), garfish (shop José Gourmet Garfish) and razor shells in brine (shop José Gourmet Razor Shells in Brine), which the razor clams guide explains. The pâtés run from sardine (shop José Gourmet Sardine Pâté) to trout with port wine (shop José Gourmet Trout Pâté with Port Wine).

At the table

The octopus tins need nothing more than bread and something to drink. The pieces can go onto a plate with a squeeze of lemon, or over warm boiled potatoes with their own oil spooned on top. The squid in ink and the calamari stew come already sauced, and want rice or bread alongside. The pâtés spread on toast or crackers. For a group, the octopus, the squid and one of the sardines make a small tasting, and the tinned fish tasting guide sets out the table. Once a tin is open, the guide to opened tinned fish covers what to do with the rest, and the tinned fish label guide covers the lines printed on the tin.

Where to start

The octopus in olive oil with garlic (shop José Gourmet Octopus in Olive Oil with Garlic) pairs the octopus with just the two ingredients the producer names, olive oil and garlic. The stuffed squids in ink (shop José Gourmet Stuffed Squids in Ink) come as a sauced, stuffed dish, ready to serve. The octopus pâté (shop José Gourmet Octopus Pâté) goes on toast with nothing else. Keep the garlic oil left in the octopus tin, and the guide to leftover tin oil and sauce has uses for it. The shop is at 263 Josephine Street in Cherry Creek, Denver, products ship nationwide from theambrosianpantry.com, and visitors can ask staff questions in the shop.