Ortiz Yellowfin Tuna Ventresca In Olive Oil
- One 110g tin of Ortiz yellowfin tuna belly (ventresca de atún claro), packed in olive oil
- Ready to eat straight from the tin: no cooking needed (or wanted)
- Enough for a generous lunch for one, or a starter for two
Ventresca is the belly of the tuna: the layered, fat-marbled strip that a sushi bar calls toro, and that Spain has been quietly putting in tins for anyone who knows to ask for it. This is the yellowfin version, from Conservas Ortiz, a family firm that has been canning fish in the Basque Country since 1891.
The honest comparison, since you'll see both on Spanish shelves: yellowfin belly is pinker, a little firmer and has a more definite tuna flavour than the paler, softer albacore (bonito del norte) ventresca, which costs noticeably more because there is less of it to go round. Some of us prefer this one. (We've been selling fish for 25 years and still haven't settled the argument.) Ortiz yellowfin is mostly caught in the Atlantic off West Africa, then cooked gently and packed by hand in Spain.
Don't cook it; heat tightens the fat that makes belly worth buying. Lay it over sliced ripe tomatoes with a spoonful of its own oil and some flaky salt, fold it through white beans with red onion and parsley, or pile it onto toasted sourdough. If you must have it hot, stir it into pasta off the heat at the very last moment. There's about 25g of protein per 100g, and the fat is the oily-fish kind.
Try something new
Product Details
- One 110g tin of Ortiz yellowfin tuna belly (ventresca de atún claro), packed in olive oil
- Ready to eat straight from the tin: no cooking needed (or wanted)
- Enough for a generous lunch for one, or a starter for two
Ventresca is the belly of...
- One 110g tin of Ortiz yellowfin tuna belly (ventresca de atún claro), packed in olive oil
- Ready to eat straight from the tin: no cooking needed (or wanted)
- Enough for a generous lunch for one, or a starter for two
Ventresca is the belly of the tuna: the layered, fat-marbled strip that a sushi bar calls toro, and that Spain has been quietly putting in tins for anyone who knows to ask for it. This is the yellowfin version, from Conservas Ortiz, a family firm that has been canning fish in the Basque Country since 1891.
The honest comparison, since you'll see both on Spanish shelves: yellowfin belly is pinker, a little firmer and has a more definite tuna flavour than the paler, softer albacore (bonito del norte) ventresca, which costs noticeably more because there is less of it to go round. Some of us prefer this one. (We've been selling fish for 25 years and still haven't settled the argument.) Ortiz yellowfin is mostly caught in the Atlantic off West Africa, then cooked gently and packed by hand in Spain.
Don't cook it; heat tightens the fat that makes belly worth buying. Lay it over sliced ripe tomatoes with a spoonful of its own oil and some flaky salt, fold it through white beans with red onion and parsley, or pile it onto toasted sourdough. If you must have it hot, stir it into pasta off the heat at the very last moment. There's about 25g of protein per 100g, and the fat is the oily-fish kind.
