| Tuna Kaskarote _________________________________________ For 6 people Six steaks of fresh tuna About 1.5 lb (700 g) ripe tomatoes 1 greeen bell pepper 2 red bell peppers 2 onions 2 cloves of garlic a handful of parsley 1 bay leaf two branches of thyme a good pinch of espelette pepper, or strong paprika flour for dusting salt and pepper olive oil for frying Skin the tomatoes, discard the seeds and chop into quarters. De-seed the peppers and slice across into strips. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Put a little oil in a large saute pan and gently cook the onions, garlic and peppers for about 15 minutes, until the they are soft and the onion is transparent. Add the tomatoes, the seasoning and the herbs, and cook for another five minutes. Dust the tuna steaks with flour and saute them gently in oil in another pan, turning to make sure both surfaces are sealed. When the fish is nearly cooked - probably in about 15 minutes - slide the steaks into the pan with the vegetables and allow them to cook together for 15 minutes more, until the fish and sauce have thoroughly exchanged flavours. Pick out the herbs, and transfer to a serving dish, or serve from the saute pan. This recipe is from the Cote Basque (the Biarritz region) where, until the early twentieth century, the kaskarotes were the women who bought fish straight from the fishing boats to sell at the markets inland, often carrying the fish in baskets on their heads for 30 miles or more. The recipe was submitted by Celia Brayfield and taken from her book "Deep France: A Writer's Year in the Béarn"; Published in the UK by Pan and available on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.fr. Visit Celia's website HERE. |
If you have a recipe you'd like to share to be included in the Recipe of the Week, please e-mail: recipes@lespritprovence.com