Epicurean tuna - Food Adventure in Cooking - lunch - James Beard - Brief Article - Recipe

Sunset, July, 2002 by Jerry Anne Di Vecchio

The first time I had lunch with James Beard in New York, he took me to his favorite place--very French and very fine--the latter quality no doubt influenced by the regular presence of this culinary giant in the restaurant.

Where we ate the second time, however, became my favorite place. Delayed by errands, I missed our meeting time and arrived at his home on West 12th Street just as lunch preparations were underway. Ever hospitable, James invited me to stay, put me to work, and threw an impromptu lesson into the conversation.

His first tip: Keep a well-stocked pantry, including humble goods. Among the boxes and bags of cereals, flours, and sugars; tins of tomatoes; and bottles of vinegars and oils was a stack of canned tuna--large, firm chunks.

His second tip: A well-stocked refrigerator includes a generous selection of long-lasting condiments. His own sheltered a dizzying trove of staples--mayonnaise, mustards, olives, and capers, not to mention pickled this and pickled that, tubes of pastes (anchovy, tomato, chestnut, and perhaps even some fish roe), all kinds of jams and jellies, as well as a multitude of interesting-looking little pots and jars whose contents I couldn't readily identify.

These stores made it a cinch to expand his original plan for simple tuna sandwiches into a more elaborate salad. A recent trip to the market provided celery for the crunch he preferred, hard-cooked eggs to add another nourishing layer, crisp lettuce leaves, and a few cherry tomatoes. There was coarse, country-style bread to slice thickly, toast, and butter. And a cool, dry white wine to uncork. Dessert? It was a creamy tapioca pudding he'd been testing that morning. What started as a snack in the kitchen became a feast in the garden (the house dog-a pug, as I recall-scouted hopefully for stray tidbits as we carted our meal outside).

So what did I really learn that day? Utter simplicity does not make a dish less interesting; it's the setting and company you keep that flavor meal memories most richly Our lunch at that swanky French restaurant was elegant, but in my mind, tuna salad with James Beard in his own garden paints a sweeter image.

Garden Tuna Salad

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 25 minutes

NOTES: As an alternative, omit the tomatoes and olives and mix about 3/4 cup rinsed and drained green seedless grapes with the tuna salad; garnish with more grapes and sprinkle with chopped salted almonds.

MAKES: 4 servings

  2  cans (6 oz. each) oil or water-
     packed albacore or chunk-style
     tuna, drained well
  4  hard-cooked large eggs, shelled
  1  cup finely chopped inner celery
     stalks, tender leaves reserved
1/4  cup drained capers
  3  tablespoons finely chopped red
     onion or shallots
     About 3/4 cup mayonnaise (regular,
     or half reduced-fat and half sour cream)
     About 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground
     pepper
     Salt
     About 4 cups inner romaine or
     butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and
     crisped
  1  to 2 tablespoons minced parsley
     Paprika (optional)
     About 1 cup small cherry tomatoes,
     stenned, rinsed, and drained (see
     notes)
     About 1/2 cup drained nicoise or
     black ripe olives (see notes)
  1  lemon, rinsed and cut into 8 wedges

1. Put tuna in a bowl. Coarsely chop

2 eggs; add to tuna. Cut remaining eggs in half lengthwise and set aside.

2. Add celery, capers, and onion to bowl; mix well with a fork, breaking tuna into small pieces. Add 3/4 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and mix. Add more mayonnaise, if desired. Season to taste with salt (be cautious-capers are salty).

3. Arrange lettuce and celery leaves equally in four wide, shallow bowls. Mound tuna salad on greens, sprinkle with parsley, and dust with paprika if desired. Set an egg half alongside each salad and garnish with tomatoes, olives, and lemon wedges. Season salads to taste with juice from wedges and more salt and pepper.

Per serving: 611 cal, 75% (459 cal.) from fat; 31 g protein; 51 g fat (8.4 g sat.); 8.3 g carbo (3.1 g fiber); 1,240 mg sodium; 262 mg chol.