I adore caraway, a taste I fell for when I fell for Prague.  Some people hate caraway however, and even I don’t want it absolutely always. So be footloose and fancy free:  be inventive – the recipe works very well with just about any herb or spice that is your favourite, or which you happen to have available, and changing the herb or spice makes a different dish every time. Just make sure your choice “feels” right with the cream in the sauce: imagine the taste in advance, and think a bit about the geography of the fact that it is marrying with cream.  So smoked paprika would give a touch of Hungarian dash, ground coriander something delicate and aromatic, and even a mild curried sauce works well.  But given the cream, don’t try to go all Mediterranean and slice a few olives in it (that would be a different sauce, probably made with tomatoes …).

If you’ve got just one herb/spice and you’re not sure if it will work – try it anyway!  You’ll find something out, and as long as you don’t tell your diners that you are uncertain about it they will probably wolf it down.

This recipe uses ground caraway, but use whole seeds if you prefer or that is all you have – it makes a slightly different dish, but just as good.

The essence of it

Lightly saute the tuna steaks.  When they are nearly cooked, stir the herb/spice into the oil to cook briefly.  Add some cream and season.  Dish up with the sauce over the tuna.  Voilà!

Bon appétit!

Anna

And now in more detail

Ingredients per person

A tuna steak of the size you like or can get (150 gr will be on the small end of things,  250 gr for heartier appetites)

Cream – a couple of tablespoons (any of soured cream, cream. or creme fraiche are all good)

Ground caraway seed – or unground caraway, or almost any other herb or spice you choose.  1/2 a tsp or so of caraway per person.  Most herbs or spices you could probably use nearer a tsp, but to little is better than too much – this produces a very delicate sauce, to match the delicacy of the cream.

Salt and pepper

Butter or oil to cook

If you think your diners will find tuna quite a strong-tasting fish – it’s always referred to as “meaty”, then have a look at this tip to make the flavour more delicate.

Put a little oil or butter in a shallow pan that is as nearly the size of the pieces of tuna as you have available, and gently sauté the the tuna steaks until they are nearly done.

How long this will take will depend on whether you have ended up with steaks that are thin cut or thick cut – anything from about 4 minutes to 10 or more.  If they are very thick, sear both sides on a high heat and then let them cook as gently as possible so they don’t get hard.

When the steaks are nearly done – test them by snipping through the thickest part with a pair of scissors if you are uncertain – push them to one side of the pan.  (If the tuna fits into the pan so snugly that it is taking up all the room, remove the steaks to a plate and cover them with foil if possible to keep the tuna warm.)

Stir the herb/spice into the oil for about a minute to cook it briefly.  Add some cream and salt and pepper and stir the sauce as it warms through, avoiding boiling it if you can.  If you had to remove the tuna from the pan to make the sauce, put it back in for long enough to warm through.

Dish up with the cream sauce spooned over the tuna.

And now some variations

It doesn’t have to be tuna:  this dish works well with any white fish – cod, plaice, dabs haddock.  And salmon or trout.  Don’t go there though, I think, with mackerel or herring.

You can make the sauce more substantial in all sorts of ways – useful if pieces of fish you bought by pantomine and gestures in a foreign market turn out smaller than you had expected.  Saute an onion before you add the tuna;  or some mushrooms; or both.  If you add veg in this way, you will probably need more cream.

And now you have a dish fit for a dinner party!

Happy quick and easy cooking and – bon appétit!

Anna