Not to be crudo, but do you like it raw?

I didn’t know that I could almost crash my truck into a tree because I’m listening to someone eat fish on the radio. Last week I was tuned in to NPR. They had on a chef named David Pasternack who happens to specialize in crudo, or what basically amounts to Italian sushi.

It’s becoming more popular in the US with whole crudo restaurants opening up in New York and LA (bastards). But even when we were in Italy the stuff was hard to come by. Like good seafood should be, it is also fairly expensive - effectively limiting our (broke ass) exposure.

However, hearing this guy talking about some of the recipes in his new book The Young Man and the Sea, was too much for me. I don’t have the book, but I was able to get the gist of a few of his preparations.

Inspired, I rushed out to pick up a nice fatty hunk of the underappreciated albacore. Slicing it to a moderate thickness, I laid the strips on a little lime juice that I had put down on the plate and then topped it quite heavy-handedly with some delicious olive oil. I served the fish with some blanched sea beans and fresh grated daikon. As a final fun touch, I put out little piles of fleur de sel and black sea salt from Cyprus.

Not only did the flavors all match really well, the color contrasts were pretty sweet; the deep pink of the fish, the bright green of the beans and white of the radish all highlighted by the golden oil and shiny black salt. This was definitely one of those staring meals. I almost didn’t want to eat it, but if you’re too slow around Girlie and raw fish you’re guaranteed to only have spectator status.

It really is a perfect summer meal.

Uncooked sea creatures, not just from Asia anymore.

-L. Pants

Comments

[auntie]

L.Pants, I heard that piece too, and was listening hard. The acid in the lime does the cooking ! Also, saw something same day on tube, and they said an oil "lighter" than olive is also superb with it. Yay lime.. the non-electric way to cook.

[L. Pants]

Hi auntie,

It's true; limes (and any other acids) do cook proteins. However, unlike ceviche which is marinated for up to an hour and is truly "cooked", you want to have a very light hand with most crudo. Some are served without acids at all and those that are shouldn't be introduced until right before serving.

[Albany Jane]

It looks just wonderful - you're truly good at whipping up wonderful plates at the drop of a hat. I certainly need a book! This fish looks just amazing.

[Girlie]

Thanks, Jane! It's a skill he has that I certainly don't... like yesterday, he comes home, we have just little odds and ends in the fridge, and he takes leftover barbeque and makes do-it-yourself lettuce tacos filled with barbeque, jalapenos, onion, goat cheese, brown rice, pickles, carrot... I didn't even know we had all that stuff around!