Where: Restaurante Boroa, Amorebieta – Etxano, near Bilbao, Basque Country.
When: November 2016
Taco de Atun, Tuna Steak.
The fish comes daily from Cadiz in the Mediterranean, and it is fished with the Almadraba method. Tuna’s meat is red because its blood does not run through veins, but through tissue.
The steak must be juicy and medium – rare. If you cook it even slightly more, the incredible flavour and texture is destroyed.
Tuna was a very popular fish in ancient Greece. Athinaeos wrote about culture and dining in the Greco-Roman world of the 3rd century AD. His masterpiece is considered to be the first cookbook, but it is a lot more. He writes:
“(The fish) was named ‘thunnos’ (θύννος) because of its darting movement.” The name ‘thunnos’ comes form the verb ‘thyno’ which means to rush, to move quickly. (Athinaeos, Deipnosophistae, 302b, Vol. 7)
The tuna steak was served with zucchini tempura fritters and soy sauce. Do I see a Japanese streak here, or am I just dreaming? Japan in the Basque Country!
Gastrolvios 