Рецепт Grilled Fresh Tuna Steaks with Lemon Sauce
Something unspeakable happened last week in Bridgehampton. An extraordinary woman was taken from us as she crossed Main Street in a crosswalk. A driver, whose license had been suspended, hurtled through town in the dark and struck a local hero. An immensely talented woman who will be remembered for her gifts of friendship and kindness going back over forty years. It was no wonder that yesterday over 500 people filed through her house to pay their respects to our own Anna Pump. As rich as the culinary talent is in the Hamptons, Anna Pump was at the top of the list. Her influence on local cooking and
eating reaches back to her arrival here in the late 1970s. Born in the town of Tarp, Germany, Anna and
her late husband, Detlef, came to the United States with their two children in the 1960s. The family first settled in New
Jersey where Detlef had a brother.
Offered a house in Southampton for two weeks one summer, the two fell
instantly in love with the area, which reminded them of Tarp. Even the potato fields felt familiar. Tucked up next to the Danish border, the town
has the Baltic on one side, the North Sea on the other. The couples’ two children, son Harm and
daughter Sybille were off to college so their parents went home to New Jersey
and came right back out looking for a house.
The one they found and lovingly saved from ruin is the same house Anna
lives in to this day.
Best of FriendsAnna
started cooking professionally in 1979.
She’d taken courses from James Beard among others and she says of
herself “ I learned that way. I’m not a chef at
all, I am a cook and I just loved it.”
My favorite story about Anna’s introduction to cooking in the Hamptons
involved that other Food Goddess in our midst, Ina Garten. At the time, Ina Garten’s Barefoot
Contessa was located in Westhampton.
Anna answered a classified ad for a cook, which Ina responded to by
asking her to come into the store and demonstrate her skills. Instead, Anna
invited Ina for a meal. Ina was bowled
over by Anna’s cooking, gave her the job and remained to this day one of Anna’s
closest friends. In fact, Ina’s
admiration is on full display on the cover of Anna’s most recent cookbook
“Summer on a Plate” (Simon and Schuster 2008).
She writes “No one has inspired me more than Anna Pump. Her recipes are simple, elegant and
absolutely delicious.” I think everyone
who has ever eaten anything Anna ever cooked feels exactly the same way. And we’ve all had plenty of opportunities to
sample her wonderful food.
Anna wasn’t with Ina very long before a tiny little roadside food shop
came up for sale. In 1980, Anna bought “Loaves and Fishes” in the
equally tiny hamlet of Sagaponack. There, her output of wonderful things
to eat made her a legion of fans.
In the Garden of
The Bridgehampton Inn“Loaves
and Fishes” is not Anna’s only venture in the Hamptons. In the early 1900s she
and Detfer bought a local landmark built in the 1790s. With their daughter Sybille, they turned the
place into The Bridgehampton Inn where they not only have lodging and a great restaurant, they also
have cooking classes. And this year, they moved their Loaves and Fishes Cookshop, which Sybille and her husband, Gerritt van Kempen own and operate, into a new space in front of the Inn. The store is locally famous for its “We accept Euros” sign and for the
fact that miraculously it carries merchandise no Williams-Sonoma store ever
has.
A colorful side dish of Grape TomatoesToday’s
post is an homage to Anna and to our dear friends who introduced Anna to us. Michael and Jim have birthdays very close together. And to
celebrate, Michael asked if we would make a recipe from Anna’s first Cookbook, “The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook”
(MacMillen 1985). It was the first time
in years that we’d had the dish which is an absolute shame. We used this as a dinner party dish for
several seasons when it was first published. At the time, tuna was
not the premium priced fish it is today.
Before the arrival of Sushi in every supermarket, tuna was a
bargain. Not any more. Even though this is a local fish, it rang up
at $24.00 a lb. But if ever a dish were
worth splurging on, this one is. The big
fish ‘steaks’ are first marinated for just one hour—no longer. While they sit in their mustard-lemon
marinade, you can put together your side dishes. I made a Grape Tomato sauté with shallots
and thyme and roasted some asparagus in a 400 degree oven for 15
minutes. The fish can be grilled
outdoors or in. You can even use the
broiler if you want. It takes all of 4
minutes a side but check for doneness which will depend on how hot the grill
is and how thick your fish is. Pop the cooked fish into a warm
oven, keeping all the marinade that will then be added to the Lemon Sauce. And
oh what sauce! It’s light and lemony,
with a hint of rosemary and touch of garlic.
It looks beautiful on the fish and tastes even better on the plate. And if you have any tuna left over, you have
the makings of a flawless Salade Nicoise in your future. Here’s the
recipe and here’s to our heroine, Anna Pump. We will never forget her and she will live on in the warmest of memories and in the wonderful things she taught us to cook.
Recipe for Grilled Fresh Tuna Steaks with Lemon Sauce
Serves 6 generous portions. Takes 1 hour 20 minutes to make including 1
hour marinating the fish.
- 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeling and
- minced
- 3 tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced or 3
- tsps. Dried
- 1 1/3 cups olive oil
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 3 pounds of fresh tuna, cut into 6
- steaks.
- 4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) Unsalted Butter
- 3 tbsp. unbleached white flour
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 Lemon sliced for garnish
- Any fresh herb for garnish (I used
- marjoram)
- Combine all the marinade ingredients
- in the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade in place. Puree for 30 seconds or until the mixture is
- smooth and creamy. Pour the marinade
- into a casserole or pyrex dish then place the tuna steaks in the dish and make
sure they are completely covered with marinade.
Marinate 1 hour.
Pre-heat a grill or broiler until
very hot. Pre-heat warming drawer or
oven to 200 degrees.
Take the tuna from the casserole
dish, reserving the marinade for the sauce.
Grill the steaks until done. This
should take about 4 minutes a side but it’s highly dependent on how thick your
tuna steaks are and how your heat source. Test for doneness.
Arrange the tuna steaks on a warm
platter and put them in the warming drawer or 200 degree oven while you make
the sauce.
To make the sauce, melt the butter
in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour.
Simmer stirring until all the lumps are gone. Add the chicken stock stirring constantly
until the sauce begins to thicken. Add
the cream, salt and pepper. Bring to a
bubbling boil. Remove from the heat. Add
the marinade and stir. Cover the fish lightly with
sauce. Put the rest in a sauce boat and
serve it on the side. Garnish the
platter with the lemon slices and herbs.