The evolution of a recipe

 

This is the tuna I order by the case 
from a small fishing vessel in Oregon.

In working on my possible cookbook about my mom and me in the kitchen and the food of the fifties, I’ve been fascinated to realize that while I often use Mom’s recipes just as she did, I also sometimes adapt a recipe to tastes seventy years later. Few things in life are more trendy than foods, so it’s fun for me to rescue some old goodies from undeserved obscurity or to see how things change. My pot roast, for instance, builds on what Mom did but I add my own touch. Or meatloaf—she made it one way but I have three or four choices I like, all of them family favorites.

So I was interested when a friend sent me a recipe for a tuna spread, along with an explanation of the changes she made. I followed her recipe last night—but made some of my own changes. Tuna and cream cheese are the base for all three versiions. Here’s the original recipe:

Tuna spread

Ingredients

2 (6-1/2 oz,) cans tuna, drained

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. grated onion

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup mayonnaise

3 Tbsp. hot sauce

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Dash of lemon-pepper seasoning

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Chill overnight before serving.

Updating the recipe

Anne wrote that she halved the recipe and used less hot sauce and what she had was old, so not too potent. She added a sprinkle of cayenne. She also stirred in some lemon juice and grated parmesan.

My first thought was that Anne was absolutely right to halve it. Two cans of tuna and a whole package of cream cheese would make enough for a large party. Almost as quickly I thought that 3 Tbsp. of hot sauce would render anything inedible for my palate—like Anne, I’m a wimp about hot things. I don’t even keep hot sauce in my kitchen, nor do I have lemon-pepper seasoning. And I don’t grate onion. For dips, I always use one or more green onions. Then I found I had a partially cut lime in the fridge, so I substituted that for lemon. It struck me that Worcestershire was an unusual ingredient with tuna, but I used it and believe it added a bit of depth to the spread.

The result of all my adapting was good—I served it with wine and after my guest left made myself a sandwich. But I thought it a bit bland. For one thing I should not have been so hesitant about the cayenne. Here’s the recipe I would recommend.

Judy’s revised tuna spread

Ingredients

1 6-1/2 oz. can tuna in water, drained

4 oz. cream cheese

1 green onion, including most of the top, minced very fine

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup mayonnaise

¼ tsp. cayenne

Juice of one lime

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley plus some for garnish

1 tsp. Worcestershire

Blend all ingredients and chill at least four hours.

A note about my sandwich: I remember having chicken salad sandwiches at Neiman Marcus—there was always a slice of bacon in the middle. Last night I was frying bacon for Jacob’s supper and thought why not? So I put a slice of bacon in my sandwich. Delicious! The flavors didn’t fight at all, and the crunch was nice. Reminded me that I sometimes put potato chips in a tuna sandwich for the crunch.

I have sons-in-law, two of them, who won’t touch canned tuna. I can’t imagine a kitchen without it!