Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Throwing away money (and tuna)

Let me tell you a story about cohabitation. Sometimes your mate is honest with you and you don't want to hear it. Sometimes you aren't honest with yourself. And that is what happened with the tuna. 

Here's the thing: I don't like seafood. It tastes like the sea. Ick. But I don't mind fish, usually, especially when the dish is so heavily flavored it obliterates any trace of that icky fish taste. Last week, we went to Harpoon Larry's in Hampton, where I had an amazing black-and-blue tuna steak sandwich. The steak was blackened, heavily spiced and topped with blue cheese, so the fish taste was...um...subtle. But I told myself, "Hey, now I like tuna steaks!"

I told Sean it was time to be adventurous and make tuna steaks. Sean said, "Um...I don't really like tuna." But I convinced him it isn't tuna steak he dislikes; it's the mayonnaise in tuna fish or tuna salad that turned him off of tuna. And because he loves me, he said okay, and let me buy two $9.95 tuna steaks. Um...expensive much?

So I marinated the tuna in lime juice and garlic and spices. I broiled it. I cut into it and it was really, frighteningly pink. Sean and I immediately hit Google Images and searched for pictures of what tuna should look like. Pink is okay. 

So we dug in. And we both chewed for what seemed like forever and then admitted the truth: we don't like tuna. It tastes like the sea! It was totally dry, probably overcooked, and underspiced. Of course I liked it when it was smothered in spices and blue cheese and BREAD. 

We ultimately decided to toss the steaks; neither of us made it four bites in. Either I ruined it or we just don't like tuna. No matter what happened, we threw money away. But Sean, God love him, said sagely, "Money is money. You tried. It's okay."

And then I ate a cupcake for lunch.

9 comments:

Aliya said...

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Raw tuna is the best!!!!!!

Joe said...

This is a sad story. You should give seafood more chances. It's very good for you and very delicious.

Amber said...

I knew this would be divisive. Seafood has always been my biggest mountain to climb.

Amanda said...

I think that is an incredibly sweet story! I love Sean's conclusion.

shayna said...

pink is ok- but purple is what you want. when i read your status update that you were going to make tuna i was like "yeah i effed my first attempt at a tuna steak." it was like eating a slab of canned tuna. if there ever is a next time...and i really think there should be...after you marinate it, coat the thing with the spice/sesame and give it a few quick flips on a blazing hot pan. the seared crispiness will be the poivre or sesame coating...not the meat itself really. i once saw an episode of iron chef where he chef just basted a raw tuna loin with hot oil, et voila.

Kate said...

"But Sean, God love him, said sagely, 'Money is money. You tried. It's okay.'"

You two are so cute! Love you both!

Amber said...

Shayna, that makes me feel 100% better. It tasted EXACTLY like canned tuna, but without the mayonnaise deliciousness.

Thanks for the support, friends.

Sara said...

Cooking seafood is hard, especially if you generally don't like seafood. I leave most seafood (other than tasty tasty tuna salad) up to Jon Congrats for trying something new though, and having the guts to call it less than edible and throw it away!

Bret said...

i'm going to agree that i'm obsessed with tuna. tuna steaks, spicy tuna sushi, you name it.

it can be tricky to cook, but yeah, you kinda just want to sear it and leave it close to raw in the center. delish.