Pole Caught Tuna 'wiches

Another package arrived at the house today.  It was yet another package from Open Sky.  I'd been debating trying some tuna being pitched by Tom Colicchio for some time and when I won a $50 credit at Open Sky I decided I would try it.

The tuna is from American Tuna company.  The company is made up of six fishing families from San Diego.  They are a certified sustainable commercial tuna fishery, the only one in existence.  They only process "pole and troll" caught Albacore tuna.  They actually catch the fish one at a time!

Their "Pole and Troll" method has been proven not to damage tuna or bait fish populations, not to catch any other species besides albacore tuna (No Dolphins, Turtles, Sharks, Sea Birds, etc.), and gives the consumer a safe choice by harvesting smaller Mercury Safe Albacore.

In addition they have 100% Traceability of every single albacore harvested (meaning they can trace the final canned and labeled product back to the vessel that actually caught it).  For those of you who work with me, you know how much of a challenge that can be, and how important it is.

My tuna arrived today and I just had to make a sandwich.  But what sandwich?  Of course I went right to my shelf (ok shelves) of cookbooks and pulled out my 'wichcraft cookbook.  Why wouldn't I use a Tom Colicchio recipe for tuna he's recommending?

Lucky for me there was a tuna sandwich recipe in the book.  I read it and knew I would like it.  Capers!

So I opened the tuna.  They say it doesn't need draining.  Well, I drained it anyway.  There was very little liquid but I didn't think I wanted that liquid in my 'wich.  The tuna smelled amazing.  Not fishy or oily, just like really good tuna.

I quickly mixed up the "tuna salad".  The mix is simple, tuna, olive oil, capers, diced red onions, oregano (which I picked fresh out of my herb garden!) and red wine vinegar, no mayo in this mixture!  I used a really good olive oil a friend brought me all the way from Spain.  It's so good I only use it when I will be able to taste it (no marinades or sauces).  It was perfect.

And then I had a forkful.  And another.  And I had Dave taste it.  Like grass fed beef tastes so much better than corn fed, chemical filled beef, this tuna tasted so much better than what I had been buying in the pouch or the can.  So sorry Charlie!

I didn't have any fennel in the house so I couldn't make the fennel in the 'wichcraft recipe but I did put the tuna between two slices of my homemade sandwich bread with some fresh lettuce I got at farmer's market last weekend.  I will definitely be enjoying my lunch tomorrow!

I'm not sure I will ever put mayo on a tuna sandwich again!  I'm hooked!  Pun intended!

The tuna was expensive, $7/can plus shipping.  A can at the grocery store is around $2.  But like the grass fed beef, the free range chicken and chicken eggs, and happy pork we have become addicted to, I'm not sure I can go back to grocery store tuna.  So General Mills just can't lay me off... I need to be able to buy good food!

Epilogue:
Since I first posted this I found that you can buy this tuna online from American for about $5/can (free shipping).  They also sell it at Whole Foods so I'll have to check the prices there.  It's getting closer to that $2/can grocery store tuna!