Just Call Me Ventresca Breath

I like tuna.  Canned, raw, or grilled, I like it.   It started in grade school. Other kids brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school for lunch. I had tuna and mayonnaise everyday.  Differences stand out when you're young, so I was dubbed Tuna Breath in the fourth grade.  While normally quick to modify my behavior in the face of school yard bullying, I certainly wasn't going to change my eating habits.  I was raised to have standards.  I ate so many tuna sandwiches over the years, my mercury levels must be high enough to take a person's temperature by sticking my finger in their mouth.  But, the canned tuna that I liked as a kid now tastes mushy or dry.  I switched to Italian tuna several years ago and found it tastes much better. And recently, I had an experience.  I had a tuna moment. I ate ventresca, tuna with an exquisite mouth feel.  And there's no going back after something like that!

Unfortunately, the little tins are pricey, which makes eating a can of it even more of an event.  Ventresca is the tuna called toro in sushi bars. It's wonderfully tender and comes from the belly of the tuna. And like pork belly, it's great stuff.

I like Ortiz brand.  Ortiz also sells a cheaper all-purpose tuna, which is very good for sandwiches. But, I would never use ventresca for a tuna sandwich.  I love it all alone, but it pairs nicely with pimentos.  This brand is from Portugal, where they know how to treat a pimento.   

Here they are.  Let's take a moment to look at how each of these items look so perfect, as if Martha Stewart packed them into the containers.  The can of tuna says it contains two servings and that's absurd!  No one gets any of this tuna but me. Get your own can.

I have one tomato plant left, which produces tiny cherry tomatoes. But, who cares about them at a moment like this?  The pimentos were perfect with the tuna. Fire roasted, silky smooth, they felt almost voluptuous on the tongue. And the tuna?  Ahhhhhh.  This is what I ate--and it was fabulous.

Comments

[lizz]

What a great read! I'll have to try your ventresca, although I must say I don't need to know the SPECIFIC region of the tuna from which it comes! Not a fan of pork bellies, either, although I've HAD one most of my life!!! LOL!

[Sher]

Thank you! I believe bacon comes pork belly--what would we do without that?

Sher