I was just browsing NPR and came across this very interesting article about Italian sashimi.
Italian sashimi, or crudo, “consists of raw fish dressed with olive oil, sea salt, acidic juices such as lemon or lime and sometimes vinegar.” It’s a dish that’s featured in The Young Man and the Sea, a cookbook by David Pasternack, the chef of Esca in New York.
I hear the words “olive oil” and “sea salt” and I usually figure it’s a dish that I’ll love. And I like sashimi, too. On the other hand, crudo is Italian for “bait” … !
The Young Man and the Sea is written in a “me to you” style that I love in cookbooks. Here’s a sample recipe, as featured at NPR:
Albacore Crudo with Caperberries
Albacore tuna is the same species used in common canned tuna like Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea. It’s fished in local waters on the East Coast in the summer, so that’s when I serve it at the restaurant. It’s a fatty fish, and that fat gives albacore a ton of flavor. I like to serve it as crudo with caperberries, which add just the right touch of acidity. Serves 6
3 lemons, halved
1 pound albacore fillet
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
High-quality extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
16 Sicilian caperberriesPut a small puddle of lemon juice — about 1 tablespoon each — in the center of six small serving plates then drizzle the lemon juice around the sides of the plates. The lemon juice is put under the fish so that it will not discolor it.
Slice the albacore thinly. Arrange the slices on the serving plates atop the puddles of lemon juice.
Sprinkle a few crunchy grains of sea salt on each slice of fish. Follow with a light grinding of black pepper on each piece and then a light drizzle of high-quality olive oil over the top. Add 4 caperberries to each plate and serve immediately.
It definitely doesn’t sound too difficult to make, although I’m not sure I’ll be in a position to give it a try anytime soon - getting fresh enough fish out in suburbia is a feat in itself! The cookbook itself, though, is on my “to read” list.
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