Ingredients
- 3 or 4 Oz. fresh tuna
- 6 to 7 Oz. fresh salmon
- 6 to 7 Oz fresh sword fish
- 3 to 4 Oz good quality pitted black olives - minced
- 5 small oranges
- 5 small fennel bulbs
- Olive oil
- Fresh lemon juice - filtered (no pits), 1 lemon
- 1 piece of garlic
- Oregano
- Chives
- The green part of a scallion
- Salt & pepper
- Have the fish monger debone for you if s/he's got the time. The weight of the fish is when deboned. You may even want to make extra patties so buy more fish.
Preparation
Crush garlic with flat part of the knife, finely mince the garlic and put into a small bowl. Add 6 tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon juice, S&P, and beat well with a fork. Add - some of the chive (snipped with a scissor) and two teaspoons of oregano. Set aside in cool place. Peel one orange down to the pulp (make sure there is no white (pith?)). With a sharp knife cut out the wedges doing your best to make sure there is no membrane on your wedges, seed and cube and set aside in medium bowl. Any liquid sitting on the bottom of the bowl add to the oil & lemon juice mix above. Peel the other oranges, remove all the white and slice into wheels and place them equally on 6 serving plates. Trim the fennel, save some of the fuzzy part if you have some, and cube. Trim skin and remove bones from the fish and cut into small cubes. Mix with orange cubes and minced olives.. salt & pepper. Make 6 tartar patties and lay in the middle of your plates. Sprinkle the fennel around each patty, add a table spoon of the olive oil & lemon mixture over each patty, decorate the top of the patties with some fennel fronds and two or 3 of the scallion "strings". Give a good grind of black pepper to each plate. The Patties - and all can be made in the morning. Even the sauce for the pasta can be made ahead of time. You'll just have to heat it up before toping the pasta with it. Pasta - you may say that 80 grams (3 ozs) is too little... I say it is the perfect portion. You want everyone to be hungry to eat your 2nd course. And then if they still are hungry they can fill up on fruit or salad. Salad - Italians eat their salad at the end of their meals... and in the States we eat it first. Personally, I feel it's best and healthier to eat it first. The choice is personal though. Don't buy any fancy bottled salad dressings. Virgin olive oil and some good Cape red wine vinegar will do just fine. If you want it to be special then add some paper thin slices of red onion, a pinch of crushed oregano or even sage and the washed leaves of the tops of radishes. If you can find watercress then use some of t hat. Bread - Italians do not serve bread with their pasta. You may want to put bread sticks on the table... I'm sure you can find fancy ones at the local bakery.