Tuna

Tuna casserole was a classic back in the day when I was a kid. I’m bringing it back—Mediterranean style!

Meaty, easy, and Mediterranean-style, this recipe will make any list of favorites.

Raïto, also spelled Raite or Rayte, is a very old sauce, traditionally served by Provençal Jews on Friday night over cod, either simply grilled or baked. Some people add a small whole fresh or canned anchovy, a few sprigs of fennel, and/or about 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts or almonds. Similar in taste to a puttanesca sauce, it can also be served over grilled tuna or pasta.

Little Tunis and the multicultural and bustling Belleville market in Paris are populated with French farmers and merchants from North Africa. In the restaurants and stores bordering the market, you feel as if you are in North Africa, as Tunisians and others congregate at kosher and halal restaurants, bars, and bakeries. You also feel the influence of the Italian tenure in Tunisia: Italian bread, beignets shaped like the Italian manicotti, and canned tuna in olive oil. An everyday snack that Jews and Muslims make from the ingredients found in this market is a large brik filled with parsley, tuna, and a raw egg, then quickly deep-fried and served with a salad called mechouia. The word mechouia, which means “grilled” in Arabic, can be applied to grilling an entire lamb or just the vegetables that go with it. Some sprinkle salt on the grill to keep away the evil eye. The trick to making a good mechouia is grilling more tomatoes than peppers. To retain the flavor of both vegetables, sprinkle them with salt after they are grilled and peeled, and let them drain overnight, to help the water seep out. In the market, Tunisians use corne-de-boeuf peppers, the ones they grew up with in Tunisia, but you can substitute Anaheim peppers, which are very similar, or others.

Brik are crisp, flaky appetizers found in Tunisian, Algerian, and Moroccan kitchens in France. The word refers to the dough, similar to the Moroccan warka, which one makes by tossing fistfuls of a wet, pastelike batter onto a hot grill. The batter miraculously spreads into a thin, pliable sheet, which may be used as an appetizer or dessert wrapper. You can find unbaked feuilles de brik (brik leaves) in Middle Eastern food stores or online (see A Source Guide, page 370). If you can’t, use wonton wrappers instead, or even phyllo dough, although your finished product will not have the same grainy texture as real brik. I often make these filled pastries as an appetizer at Hanukkah, instead of potato pancakes.

This version of the Tunisian meshweya (page 85) can be served hot or cold. I prefer it cold.

Tuna is usually overcooked in the Middle East. But the best way of eating it is seared on the outside and raw on the inside, which makes it deliciously, meltingly tender. Otherwise it quickly dries out. It can be brushed with oil and cooked on the barbecue or under the broiler, but an easy and perfect way is to pan-grill it. The dressing is a glamorized version of the ubiquitous oil-and-lemon one. It is good with all kinds of fish.

These Tunisian fried parcels in a crisp casing of ouarka (see page 125) are ubiquitous appetizers in North African restaurants. You can use fillo to make them, although it is not quite the same. They should be served immediately, as soon as they come out of the frying oil.

Olive oil and lemon with parsley or dill is the standard dressing in Turkey for all grilled and fried fish. The best way to eat tuna is rare—simply seared, with the flesh inside still pink, and almost raw. Serve it with a salad or Mashed Potatoes with Olive Oil, Scallions, and Parsley (see page 168).

This recipe went through several incarnations before it came out perfect. The heat of the chile, the sesame, and the minty shiso leaves is amazing. Shiso is one of those ingredients, like lemongrass, that has no real substitute. The leaves taste a little like mint and look like lily pads. If you can’t find them in a specialty or Asian market, just buy a few from your neighborhood sushi restaurant. (That’s what I do.)

The Japanese man I buy my fish from gave me this recipe. One day I noticed that he was making hand rolls for lunch from the trimmings of a No. 1 grade A tuna loin. He let me have a roll since I’m such a good customer, and I have to say it was the best spicy tuna roll I’d ever had. You’ll get the hang of rolling these in no time—practice makes perfect.

Salads are quick and painless to throw together on a work night, and you won’t feel like you’ll have to do double time at the gym the next day. If you’re on your own, this is also a speedy and healthy dinner for one: Just use one tuna steak and a few less vegetables. The colors of this sophisticated and simple salad really pop. I like hothouse cucumbers because they have minimal seeds and tender skin. The mustard packets that you get from Chinese takeout are really put to good use in this Asian vinaigrette.

This is my version of the classic French salad I enjoyed time and again in Nice. Roasting concentrates the flavor of fresh green beans.

Tuna steaks are delicious when the exterior is browned but the center is rare. These steaks can be done on an outdoor grill, but when that isn’t feasible, the convection oven does a wonderful job.

Ascoli is a city in the Marche region known for its big green olives. They add a distinctive local flavor to this sauce of tomatoes and canned tuna, a pasta dressing found in many regions of Italy. If you can’t find Ascolane olives, other green Italian olives will do. Do not be afraid to alter some of the other ingredients to make your own version of this tasty sauce. For example, anchovies add complexity, but you could omit them if you choose. And though chopped parsley is fine, a little mint and/or a little oregano could go far. Also, do not feel compelled to use the exact pasta shape: I call for ziti here, but fusilli, shells, or mafalde could all add a new dimension to this dish.

Thick tuna steaks are not just for grilling. The stovetop technique here is quick and convenient. You use one big skillet for browning the fish steaks, make a simple (yet complex-tasting) sauce, and put the two together for a final brief braise that marries the flavors perfectly. This is the true alla Genovese method. If you prefer grilling to pan-cooking, however, you can certainly omit the first step of flouring and frying the steaks, and make the sauce separately. Use a smaller saucepan in this case, preparing the sauce as in the recipe, starting with the sauté of garlic, anchovies, and porcini in 2 tablespoons olive oil. (Use the other 3 tablespoons olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, to season the fish before grilling.) One advantage of a separate sauce is that it can be finished ahead of time, so when your guests arrive you only have to fire up the stove and cook the fish. And you’ll find it delicious with bass, codfish, or salmon as well as tuna. In fact, this sauce is so good, I suggest you have a good slab of focaccia to mop up the pan.

Be a bean counter! The new USDA guidelines recommend having 1 1/2 cups of legumes weekly for their protein, fiber, iron and more. This hearty, lightly tangy dish gets you a third of the way to your goal.

Frazzled? Feast on fish! Tuna is high in vitamin B12, which stimulates the brain's production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps you relax.

A restaurant in McAllen, Texas, called Republic of the Rio Grande Grill and Cantina invented this entrée-size grilled tuna salad with grapefruit sections and red onions on top. It's a classic combination of South Texas flavors—and a very healthy dinner.

This dish isn't a makeover, per se. But there are so many beloved— and believe it or not, unhealthy—seared tuna dishes out there in the restaurant world that I thought I should offer at least one healthy version. The tuna is never the problem. Tuna is rich in nutrients, low in fat, delicious, and just a good bet all around. It's the stuff that's put on top that's the problem—anything from seared foie gras to deep-fried tempura crispies. Sure, it tastes great, but those additions turn a healthful dish into an artery-clogging one.

The rooftop of chef Rick Bayless's Chicago restaurant Frontera Grill is dedicated to growing tomatoes, hot peppers and herbs for fresh salsas. Multicolored heirloom tomatoes can be sweeter than other types, Bayless says, and they offer a hefty dose of infection-fighting vitamin C.

Guam has a hyperactive barbecue scene, with an annual festival that gives away tens of thousands of dollars in prize money. No family or social event is complete without the firing up of a grill (often half of a 55-gallon drum). Given Guam's proximity to the Philippines and Japan, it comes as no surprise that soy sauce, ginger, and wasabi should figure prominently in the local grilling. Here's the Pacific Island version of a grilled blackened tuna from my Guamanian barbecue buddy, Steven Cruz. The tuna is crusted with Old Bay seasoning. (OK, it's a long way from Baltimore to Guam, but apparently this Maryland seafood seasoning enjoys great popularity on the island.) Ginger, wasabi, and chiles give the dipping sauce a triple blast of heat.