Tuna

Thon

What it is

Phoenicians and Sicilians netted bluefin in the same channels for three thousand years — the mattanza was fishing as ritual theatre. Today a single great bluefin can fetch the price of a house at Tokyo’s dawn auctions: the ocean’s most contested muscle.

In the kitchen

Treat it like beef: sear the outside hard, leave the centre rare, rest it. Cooked through, the king becomes cat food.

Goes with

Sesame Soy sauce Ginger Olive Capers

Same species

Albacore Maguro-bushi Mojama Tuna bottarga Tuna belly (toro) Ventresca

Also used with

Akazu Alaea red Hawaiian salt Gagome kombu Himalayan pink salt Hojiso (shiso flower spikes) Kaiware daikon sprouts

In season alongside

Bonito (katsuo) Mackerel Allis shad Lamb neck European conger Lobster coral

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