We are all exhorted to eat more fish, but are too often constrained by complaints that the bones make it too difficult to eat, or it’s too strong-tasting.  Is it going to have to be fish fingers, or fish and chips, again?

Enter the tuna fish, or “tunny fish” as you will rather delightfully find it called in older English cookery books.  I’m talking about fresh tuna here, not the tinned variety (though I happily use tinned when it suits the recipe and my convenience).  There are no bones in a tuna steak, and if your picky eaters find the taste a bit strong, take this tip which I found in Julia Child’s compelling book My life in France, the story of her lifelong love affair with France and French food (the autobiography is rather less daunting than the actual cookery books).

She suggests soaking fresh tuna for five hours in water to which you have added a good dash of vinegar – she does not specify what vinegar but presumably she would have used wine vinegar since the ladies who told her this tip were the fishwives selling fish in the Marseilles market.  It works with whatever vinegar your store cupboard can offer.  Anything from white wine vinegar to traditional malt.  But the stronger-tasting the vinegar, the less you should use.  No vinegar?  Use a small squeeze or squirt of lemon juice instead.

Julia Child tells how the Marseilles fishing fleet had got a big run of tuna and that while the run was on the fishermen just went on and on fishing for more, all hours of the day and night (this is the south of France in the years following World War II):  “I couldn’t resist and bought a big slice of tuna, its flesh bright red.  The market ladies said to soak it in vinegar and water, to avoid an overly fishy taste, which I did for five hours.  The flesh turned almost white.  The I braised it with a purée de tomates, oignons étuvés a l’huile, champignons, vin blanc and quelques herbes.  Marvellous!”

Marvellous indeed, but probably not a recipe for the traveller or holiday maker (though I am tempted to have a go at a simple version – I’ll blog it if it works).  There are lots of superb very easy recipes for tuna, and the soaking isn’t necessary unless your diners don’t like the meaty-ness of tuna.  Even if you do soak it doesn’t have to be the 5 hours Julia Child used.

If you are bringing food back from the shops at the end of the day and all you have available is half an hour while you dig out the other stuff for supper, you’ll be surprised at how much difference even that small amount of soaking time makes. And if you can leave the water and vinegar ready in the morning so that you can put the tuna in to soak straightaway, before you have even taken off your muddy boots or other footgear, the soak time will be the best part of an hour (especially if you need something liquid inside you before you embark on making supper).   Or you can put the tuna and vinegar-water mix in the fridge, in a covered bowl or a leak-proof plastic bag , before you go out and come back to find it well steeped.

Do keep the fish chilled of course, it you are leaving it long.  And go easy on the vinegar until you find the strength that suits you – too little is better than too much and still surprisingly effective.

Oh and if you want to know more about Julia Child, a towering figure in American cookery who brought French cooking to the US but who is still remarkably little known the other side of The Pond, the film Julie and Julia is well worth a watch. And read My life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme

Our absolutely favourite recipe for tuna is unbelievably simple:

Tuna with caraway cream sauce recipe

Happy quick and easy cooking and – bon appétit!

Anna