Tuna lettuce is a typical Sicilian product, like red tuna bottarga and tuna mosciame, a prized ingredient of traditional cuisine that today is also loved and used by the most famous international starred fish restaurants.
It is nothing more than tuna sperm (but not only: the amberjack, sea bass, herring, mackerel and cuttlefish milk is also very delicious) and is obtained from the gonads of the Sicilian bluefin tuna , i.e. from the sac of seminal fluid of the fish during the breeding period. In addition to the fillet and entrails, these highly prized Sicilian tunas offer the white pockets which are, according to tradition, skinned or rather stripped of the coating, boiled, cut into slices, dipped in flour and fried.
Tuna lattume or pussyello is a typical dish of Sicilian gastronomy that derives from the ancient tradition of tuna fishermen. From humble origins, it was born as a recovery dish , one of those pieces that are usually thrown away, but today it is an excellent and very tasty ingredient, highly sought after and of great quality. With a delicate taste and used in numerous recipes, it is a bit like the "male" of tuna bottarga . Today we will take you to know him better. You can find the best Sicilian tuna for sale online in the appropriate section of our online shop.
https://www.emporiosicilia.it/prodotti/ventresca-di-tonno-rosso-il-pescatore-gustosi-sentieri/
https://www.emporiosicilia.it/prodotti/tonno-rosso-del-mediterraneo-il-pescatore-gustosi-sentieri/
Fresh tuna lettuce: how it is obtained, how it is produced and where it comes from
This typical Sicilian product , the male equivalent of bottarga, has a delicate taste, a soft and firm consistency, a fleshy pink color and releases an intense aroma. It is clearly distinguishable from bottarga, with its orange colour. The lettuce is extracted from male tuna , cleaned and cooked in water and salt. Once cooled, it is drained and stored in glass jars with olive oil or sold fresh, directly from freshly caught and processed tuna.
After catching the bluefin tuna, it can also be covered in salt and aromatic herbs and left to dry. Before being consumed it is best to desalt it by immersing it in plenty of cold water for a couple of hours.
This fish product has been officially included in the list of Traditional Italian Agri-Food Products (PAT) of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. Still little known throughout Italy, it is a true gastronomic refinement.
Tuna lettuce is a typical product of Sicily , in particular of the areas of Favignana, Trapani, Palermo and Syracuse, famous for bluefin tuna fishing.
How to prepare and use lettuce in the kitchen
It can be an excellent appetizer with a Mediterranean flavour . A basic recipe requires that, once desalted, it is boiled and then simply seasoned with Sicilian lemon juice , but it can also be used to season pasta, for example spaghetti or salads. Traditionally, in Trapani cuisine it is used in salt.
Recipes with tuna lettuce
The most characteristic recipes come directly from the areas of Sicily where bluefin tuna is fished, namely Trapani, Palermo and Syracuse . In these cities, lettuce is eaten with short pasta , browned cut into cubes in a sauté of garlic, oil and chilli pepper blended with white wine. The pasta is then sautéed in the pan with parsley and some cherry tomatoes.
Another traditional Sicilian recipe is Venetian lattume . Venetian, but only in name! In this case, the diced lettuce is cooked in a pan in a pan with plenty of extra virgin olive oil with browned onion, adding salt and black pepper. After cooking, it is seasoned with a squeeze of lemon juice. Dried or in oil it also becomes excellent in salads . Also delicious grilled or baked in breadcrumbs.
Fried tuna lettuce: traditional Sicilian pancakes
This Sicilian recipe deserves a separate paragraph, which includes tuna lettuce floured and fried for a few minutes in plenty of boiling oil.
The result is a crunchy fish pancake with a soft center and a taste very similar to animal brains. The enveloping taste of lettuce does not allow itself to be overwhelmed by the flavor of fried foods, but restores the taste of Mediterranean tuna one bite at a time. To try at Christmas and during the holidays.
How to store fish milk
On Emporio Sicilia you can find tuna lettuce for sale vacuum-packed or in oil , the two main preservation methods. The two containers should not be stored at room temperature, but in the fridge at a temperature between 0°C and 4°C , the same temperature to be kept after opening. You can purchase the product among the Sicilian fish preserves of Antica Tonnara Minghetti e Tammaro and Azienda Ittica delfio .
Fish lettuce: nutritional values, properties, fats and proteins
This product has a quantity of calories and cholesterol to take into consideration, but it is not a fatty food. Here we leave you a short table:NUTRITIONAL VALUES (Average values per 100g of product)
CALORIES KJ/Kcal: 971/215
FATS: 1.2g, of which saturated fatty acids: 0.4g
PROTEIN: 50.6g
