Vitello Tonnato is an Italian dish: veal served with a tuna-based sauce. I usually find it uninspired but at Bar Eixample in Barcelona we had a fantastic rendition that we wanted to re-create. The uniform pink of the meat suggested sous vide cooking, with the slight brown around the edge indicating a quick sear. We knew we'd have to cook, chill, sear, chill hard, then slice thinly. It came out pretty well, and we have thoughts on improvement and variations at the end.
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| Our rendition |
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| Bar Eixample's archetype |
We started with an "Estalvi!" (sale!) cut of Vedella. In our grocery in Barcelona, "Vedella" is younger cow (under 18 months?) than "Bou" which is older than 18 months; neither is as pale as the "veal" you can find in the US. I trimmed out the cut, removing fat and gristle, but I don't know what cut it was -- it was on sale, and we're just experimenting. We don't have our usual vacuum sealer and Searzall torch, so we improvised.
This served two for a very pleasant lunch.
250 g Vedella, trimmed of fat, sinew, etc
1 Egg Yolk, room temperature
Lemon Juice
Tarragon Mustard
Sunflower Oil
52g Tuna, canned in olive oil
1 Anchovy
Capers
2 Endives, sliced in rounds (you could use Arugula or anything else)
Tomato, peeled, sliced in cubes
Capers
Parsley, chopped
Lemon zest
Cornichon
Pickled White Onion
Olives, black and green
Black Pepper
Vitello:
Cook the Vedella sous vide at 57.2C / 135F for 1 hour: you want it pink inside.
Let cool on the counter to absorb the juices, then chill over night in the fridge.
Heat 2 cast iron pans until smoking.
Thoroughly dry the Vedealla, then put it on one pan and put the other on top to sear both surfaces at once.
Sear for about a minute: you don't want to overcook the inside, just brown and maybe give a crust.
Let cool a bit, bag, then put in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up for slicing.
Slice as thinly as possible, I was able to get 1-2mm slices.
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| Seared both sides on cast iron, leaving center rare |
Tonnato:
With a stick blender, whisk the Egg Yolk up until frothy, with some Lemon Juice.
Add a dollop of Mustard, continue frothing with the stick blender.
Drizzle in the Oil to form a mayonnaise.
Separately, whiz up the Tuna, Anchovy, Capers then fold into the Mayonnaise; if you want it smooth, whiz them again together.
Plating:
Lay out the Endive rounds on a plate.Top with some Tonnato.
Slice the now firm Vedalla thinly and arrange gracefully on the Endive bed.
Top with more Tonnato.
Garnish with the Tomato, Capers, Parsley, lemon Zest, Cornichon, Pickled White Onion, Olives.
Add a good grind of Black papper.
Serve with white wine and some good bread or crackers.
This turned out well, a very elegant lunch, without a lot of fuss.
It could easily be scaled up, and almost all of it can be prepared ahead of time.
Next time...
Add some Salt to the Vedella to help the flavor; I understand this is usually contra-indicated for sous vide, but figure the moisture it draws out from the meat will have time to migrate back in, like it does with a dry brine.
Freeze a bit longer, maybe 45-60 minutes, to firm up and make thin slicing easier.
Add another Anchovy and maybe a bit more Tuna to boost flavor.
The presentation at Bar Eixample indicated a cylindrical muscle like a loin; we should seek out other cuts. Ours, cooked, had a taste and texture like properly cooked American Roast Beef; the Bar's was more lightly colored and less pronounced flavor, as if from a younger animal.
We could try other meats: pork loin would be the right shape, we can find lamb here easily, even turkey could work; we'd have to experiment to see what temperatures give us a good color and texture.
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