Tuna with crust and mojo sauce

Juan Mari Arzak has always favored the great fish and shellfish, with the exception of cod, that make up the classical base of Basque cuisine. He has worked avidly with hake, spider crab, baby squid…and tuna. Foods with which he has achieved inspiring results, recreating ancestral flavors with spectacular style brimming with sophistication.
During the summer months, from June to October, he offers three extraordinary dishes. The most legendary is the belly filet with winter savory and mint-flavored bones. In 2004 he has incorporated the exquisite and delectable tuna salad with smoked potatoes, arugula, chard leaves, barley and chard sauce and olive and coffee sauce. This prizewinning composition exudes originality with flavors as strong and distinct as they are harmonious. His greatest triumph is in his sauces. First is his gherkin sauce—fresh, vibrant, fine, greenish in color and remarkable for the inclusion of melon juice, parsley and bread in addition to the gherkins. Second, and without taking anything away from the sensational first (we are forced to compare the main sauce to it), is the thick sauce served as a crust for the fish. The sauce is prepared with the fried ground tuna skins, onion blackened without turning bitter, almonds, tomatoes, bread, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The product is a light paste spooned onto the plate. The sauce is applied to both sides of the tuna and lightly sprinkled with finely ground peanuts. It is seared and served raw and hot on the inside, “singed” on the outside.