Two tuna bellies were walking down the street. One was assaulted.

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: Salted Tuna Belly.

To tell how good pickled tuna back and salted tuna belly are. Tonnina is the body of the tuna fish, and tarantello is the belly of that same tuna. To identify just how good a pickled tuna back is, you should know that it must be firm, be russet-coloured rather than yellow, and give off an excellent aroma; the same with salted tuna belly, but it is somewhat more striated than tuna back. For preserving, all fish should be set in fresh brine: salmon, grey mullet, gilthead, anchovy, sardines, herring, pilchards and shad.

As far as I have found out, moronella is the belly of a large sturgeon, caught in the Mediterranean and salted the same way as tuna belly is done. When it is good and excellent it is not rancid but is striated and gives off an excellent aroma. To be stored a long time, none of the above-mentioned salted fish cuts should ever be removed from the vessel in which they were initially put, but must be continuously covered with salt and the brine they ooze, and remain well sealed in a cool, humid place.

Salted tuna belly is made from the belly of a tuna, which is the fattest part, salted with coarse salt; likewise smoked tuna belly. Either of them is served in a salad. But first it is set to soak in warm water, then it is put into a pot in cool water. To desalt it better, bran is put to boil with it. When it is cooked it is taken out and put into cool water, changing the water several times. It is served cubed in chunks of a moderate size, dressed with oil, vinegar, must syrup or sugar, and raisins cooked in wine. (L’arte et prudenza d’un maestro cuoco, 1570)

3 pounds tuna belly, skin off
3 cups coarse salt

Line a non-reactive tray just larger than the tuna pieces with 1 1/2 cups salt and lay the fish on top. Layer it with the remaining 1 1/2 cups salt. Cover the tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate for two to three days. Remove the tuna, rinse and pat it dry. Slice and keep it for use as a flavor addition.

Scappi uses "pickled" to refer to a brine and "salted" when packed in salt. The tuna would probably be kept in its salt until ready to use, but then it would need to be soaked in water to remove the excess salt. ("To cook that [salt fish] I learned that it is soaked in warm water for twenty-four hours, changing that water several times.") Since I am storing this in a freezer once salted, I reduced the salt curing time to several days, avoiding the need for as much later soaking.

Sources
Scully, Terence ed. The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570). London: University of Toronto Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8010-9624-1.

What worked: It certainly salted up nicely. The fish is stiff and preservable.

What didn't: Despite ordering these as skin-off, they were delivered skin still attached (and part of a fin on one piece). This meant that I had to hack off the skin and I was unprepared for that; the tuna went from three or four large pieces to a bunch smaller ones. Also, 2 1/2 days salting still requires soaking to make it edible, although only a few hours with water changes.

Finally, it's kind of blah.

Will I make it again? I don't know. I might try smoking some of the salt fish to see if that makes it more interesting, flavor-wise. There's also a recipe for a fish sausage in Scappi that calls for both soaked and unsoaked tuna belly; I'll try that this weekend and if that's a hit then I will definitely repeat.

Comments

[j-i-m-r.livejournal.com]

Kind of blah? That's too bad. The one Ysabella had at West An Tir was wonderful. It kept calling me back to the plate :-) Maybe she did something slightly different?

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

She threw some herbs in hers which would add a nice flavor.