It’s summer – time for tuna fish salad piled high on a bed of lettuce or better yet, ladled thickly on some white bread as the centerpiece of a great sandwich.
But instead of plain, old tuna salad, why not go first class and make white albacore salad?
Albacore is known as white tuna while the other tunas, yellowfin, skipjack or big-eye are in the “light tuna” category. The albacore is found in the open waters of all tropical and temperate oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.
Albacore is a prized food, and the albacore fishery is economically significant. Methods of fishing include pole and line, long-line fishing, trolling, and some purse seining. It is also sought after by sport fishers. Compared to other tunas, Albacore is a filet and the others are flank steaks.
I made up a batch of “White Albacore Salad” this week and we devoured it in salads and on lettuce. The secret is to find the tuna in vegetable oil, not packed in water. In the past 10 years, the tuna industry has flip-flopped, now packing about 90 percent of their products in water. Some think that’s healthier. Maybe, maybe not. A 2-ounce serving of white tuna in oil is only 80 calories. Perhaps there are a few more calories in tuna packed in oil, but some oil in a diet is vital for skin and hair health. When it comes to taste, however, tuna packed in vegetable oil is a hundred times better.
To find white tuna packed in vegetable oil, you have to get down on hands and knees and squint through your bifocals in the grocery store. When available, I like to buy the larger cans, the 12-ounce sizes. I have found them at Wal-Mart of all places. I prefer Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore when I can find it. Good stuff.
If you ask ten cooks how to make tuna salad, you’ll get 10 recipes, but here is my recipe for White Albacore Salad.
White Albacore Salad
Two 12-oz. cans White Albacore Tuna packed in vegetable oil
1 cup Dukes Light Mayonnaise
2 hard boiled eggs, diced
½ cup diced, fresh spring onions
½ cup diced celery
¼ cup dill relish
Kosher salt and coarse pepper to taste
Sprinkle of celery seed
Sprinkle of celery salt
Mix well and chill at least two hours before serving