Peruvian Tuna Casserole
“I refuse to believe that trading recipes is silly. Tuna Fish casserole is at least as real as corporate stock.”
- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Italian-American journalist, essayist, and memoirist
Buenos Aires - Okay, everyone who remembers their mother’s tuna fish casserole, raise your hand. There were a legion of recipes for that icon of 1950s and 1960s norteamericano cuisine. Let’s face it, there was no other possible use for Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup that didn’t involve patching a hole in the drywall. The biggest variation, and cause of many a neighborhood argument, was whether or not it should be topped with crumbled potato chips or French’s fried onion rings. The same argument raged over green bean casseroles, but that was a holiday dish. Tuna casserole was weekly fare.
How was I to know that similar arguments were surging throughout Peru? It may actually be that canned tuna is at the root of much evil in global society, and may bear further investigation. The addition of canned tuna to the classic Peruvian mashed potato dish, causa, was no doubt an improvement in the nutritional content of the dish, since prior to that it seems it was not much more than cold seasoned mashed potatoes, but it has also led to arguments amongst the Peruvian foodie community over authenticity and limits on creativity. Not being a fan of the latter, and while caring enough to pay tribute to the former, not being a slave to it, I’m game to take recipes in varying directions. So this is my first tuna causa (making, not eating), in fact, my first causa period. Henry took one look at it and declared it a disaster. His niece and nephew, 15 and 10 years old respectively, looked at it and said, “Ewww, what is it? That’s not Peruvian.” It is, however, a 15″ platter of whatever nationality it may care to claim. Twenty minutes later the plate had been licked clean, and believe me, I wasn’t the one who ate it all.
Tuna Causa
Potato base:
3 large potatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
ají amarillo powder
salt and white pepperBoil, peel, and mash the potatoes. Add the olive oil a bit at a time, to taste and until it has a nice smooth consistency. Season with salt, pepper, and the ají amarillo to taste - you could also use chopped or pureed fresh peppers - this is a mild yellow pepper (spicier than a bell pepper, but mild). Form it into the base of your presentation on a platter and chill in the refrigerator for ½-1 hour just to firm it up a bit. This dish is generally served cold or room temperature, though I’ve seen hot causas on a few menus.
Tuna layer:
3 cans of tuna (I like to use the water packed)
1 small red onion, chopped
mayonnaise
salt and white pepperThis is pretty much just a simple tuna salad. Mash the tuna, add the onions, and enough mayonnaise just to make it moist and hold together. Season to taste.
Assembly:
Potato base
Tuna salad
1 tomato, seeded and diced
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1 rocoto or other medium hot pepper
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
chopped black olives
chopped parsley
juice of 1 lemonYou should have a nice, firm mashed potato base to build on. Layer the tuna salad on top of it. Top with chopped tomato and parsley. Lay a layer of avocado slices on top of that, sprinkle or brush with the lemon juice so they maintain their color. Then the hard boiled egg slices (you can hard boil your eggs along with your potatoes above, just don’t leave them in the water the entire time) and the pepper rings. Scatter the chopped olives over the top of it. Set it on the table, ooh and ahh a little, dig in.
December 28th, 2006 at 10:14 am
[...] This was a fascinating, despite one significant flaw, twist on a traditional causa, a dish we make at home relatively often. A nice layer of perfectly flavored potato and lemon base, with a touch of ají amarillo, topped with tender slices of octopus, tossed in a creamy black olive sauce. All the various components of a causa were there, reinterpreted, and with octopus! Now, usually here in BsAs, octopus dishes are outrageously expensive, and I’ve never quite figured out why. Here, it’s not, it was no more than any of the other appetizers (generally around 20 pesos), which leads me to suspect that it’s some sort of conspiratorial agreement to jack up the price of an exotic ingredient amongst the major Spanish style restaurants… Oh, the flaw? Causa traditionally has a layer of avocado as well, and I just couldn’t find it - but the dish was so good, I kept eating… but then I asked afterwards, and the waiter responded with “yes, it has the two layers - one of potato and one of avocado - I showed him my photo, it only had one layer. He headed for the kitchen and the chef and returned with an apology and an offer if I wanted to try another one with the avocado, the cook who’d prepared it had left off one layer and no one on the way to our table had spotted it… [...]
May 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
[...] been here before, we moved on into the evening, starting off with a bit of a twist on the Peruvian causas that I’ve made in the past - I combined it with what I thought was an interesting mashed [...]
January 7th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
[...] began the evening with one of my personal Peruvian favorites, a causa - a dish I’ve played with on and off since learning to make it almost a year and a half ago. [...]
June 15th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
[...] there, we moved on to a causa - made the way we’ve made it many a time here for our Peruvian themed dinners, just without [...]
September 10th, 2008 at 11:17 am
[...] up, our causa de langostinos is pretty much at the point where I want it. It’s not really a causa, it’s more just based on the idea. The base this time a mix of potato, zucchini, olive oil, [...]