Local B.C. strawberries enhance savoury tuna dish
Location provides inspiration for many chefs and the B.C. coast has inspired many creative people in the food industry.
Terry Pichor is the recently hired executive chef at Villa Eyrie Resort on Vancouver Island. The restaurant takes traditional coastal cuisine and adds an Italian twist.
The recipe Pichor prepared for host Gloria Macarenko of Our Vancouver is an Italian crudo dish featuring raw albacore tuna.
The tuna is wrapped in a salt and sugar mixture and is cured using fennel seed. Pichor adds a fresh salad using edible flowers and local strawberries.
"We've started our green house program this summer and we're going to grow on that. So these [greens] are right outside my kitchen door," says Pichor.
Lightly cured albacore tuna
Ingredients
1 albacore tuna loin
Salt 250 grams
Sugar 125 grams
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
2 grams of coriander seeds
2 grams fennel seeds
Instructions
Mix the salt, sugar, zest and toasted spices together in a mixing bowl until well combined to create a salt mixture.
Lay out two pieces of plastic wrap approximately the same width of the tuna loin. Dust the salt mixture on the plastic wrap and lay the tuna on top of the salt. Dust the top and the sides of the loin with the salt mixture.
Roll the tuna in the plastic wrap to form a log. Set a timer for 15 minutes. Remove the tuna from the plastic wrap and rinse under cold water. Allow the tuna to dry uncovered in the refrigerator for two hours. Wrap the tuna back in the plastic wrap into a log again, twisting the ends and tying them with butcher twine.
Garnish
6 strawberries (finely diced)
Shallot (finely diced)
3 french radishes (sliced thin)
Basil seeds (rehydrated in water) 1 gram
Lemon juice 15 ml
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 100 ml
Nasturtium leaves 10 small
3 nasturtium flowers, various colours
In a small mixing bowl, mix the strawberries, shallot, olive oil, lemon juice and basil seeds. Season to taste with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
To Serve
Slice the tuna into 1/4 inch pieces and lay out onto a large platter. Drizzle the strawberry mixture over top of the tuna and garnish with radish, nasturtium leaves and flowers.
