POMODORO MOSCIAME E PEPERONCINO

POMODORO MOSCIAME E PEPERONCINO

TOMATO, MOSCIAME (DRIED TUNA) AND CHILLI SALAD

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Southern Italian Cooking by Francesco Mazzei
Southern Italian Cooking by Francesco Mazzei

THIS WAS ONE OF MY FATHER’S FAVOURITE al fresco lunches and for me very much reflects the way we eat and cook in the South. He would go to the garden, pick the basil, chillies, tomatoes and onions, run them under cold water, then arrange everything on a plate and finish by grating mosciame over the top. Mosciame is salt-cured tuna loin from Sardinia. In some parts of the island tuna is only fished once a year so drying the expensive loin is a wonderful way of preserving it for leaner times. Methods of curing the tuna vary, but the basic principle is said to have been brought to the island by the Phoenicians and essentially involves salting the tuna for several days then rinsing it and leaving it to dry under the baking Sardinian sun and gentle sea breezes. You can serve mosciame as you would any cured meat, by slicing it, or as my father did, by shaving it into shards and tossing it through a salad. There are different types of mosciame depending on the time they have been left to age; these will range from the slightly moist and chewy to the very dry, so I’d like to encourage you to experiment to find your preference.

POMODORO MOSCIAME E PEPERONCINO
POMODORO MOSCIAME E PEPERONCINO

SERVES 4

650g mixed seasonal tomatoes (including cherry tomatoes)
ó small Tropea red onion, finely sliced
80g mosciame (see above), finely sliced
10g basil leaves
1 green chilli, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 red chilli, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
sea salt
PREPARATION
Slice the larger tomatoes into rounds and halve the cherry tomatoes, then place on a plate. Arrange the onion, mosciame, basil and chilli on top. Season with salt and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, to your taste.