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Sicilian tuna tartare – tartare di tonno
What better way to celebrate the tuna season than with one of my favourite dishes, Sicilian tuna tartare. Unlike the indulgence, length and fervour of spaghetti with cuttlefish ink sauce, today’s offering is almost Buddhist in its simplicity, not that Buddhists probably get through boatloads of raw tuna. Expect it would wreak havoc with their karma. Not with mine, I’m glad to report. To say this is old-school Sicilian would be a lie. A modern classic maybe, insofar as that actually means anything. It only started popping up on menus here about five or ten years ago, although now any decent fish restaurant will offer it. Strangely, though, it’s not…
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pasta ‘ncaciata – hearty baked pasta
L’apparenza inganna, as they say here in Italy – appearances can be deceptive. Today’s offering, pasta ‘ncaciata, is a case in point. I mean, just look at it – rigatoni and cheese with a crispy crust. This is the sort of pasta dish you wouldn’t mind introducing to your parents. Reassuring, well-behaved, understated even. It’s not exactly a featherweight prawn salad, but neither does it look likely to beat you up and put you out of action for 24 hours. This, of course, is where you would be wrong. Prise off its pretty golden wrapping, and underneath you will find the Mike Tyson of the pasta universe. Pasta ‘ncaciata is…
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Spaghetti with cuttlefish ink – spaghetti al nero
There are foods that we inevitably associate with certain people. If anyone mentions pasta with ragù, for example, I always think of my son, George, who must be one of the world’s leading experts on the dish by now, considering his vast hands-on experience in the field. And lemon meringue pie always brings to mind my sister. I’m not even sure why, although it might just be because her lemon meringue pie is so damn good. And when I see spaghetti with cuttlefish ink sauce on a menu, I can’t help but remember my old friend Nigel. I miss many things about him, but his penchant for spraying me with…
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A fresh Sicilian summer salad for tuna
The devil is in the detail, as the saying goes. The original version of the phrase was actually “God is in the detail”, so whichever way you look at it, details clearly make a difference. Today’s recipe is a perfect example of this. It would be a simple tomato and onion salad, were it not for the capers, mint, and above all lemon zest. But it’s precisely these minor additions that make the salad worth telling you about. And nor should we overlook the most important detail of all: this is a salad for tuna, not a tuna salad. A salad for tuna but not a tuna salad? Perhaps some…
