Tuna Carpaccio

° Serves 6 as a first course

Classic carpaccio is paper-thin slices of raw beef covered with a flavorful mayonnaise. In this recipe, I use tuna instead of beef and a dressing of oil and vinegar with a garnish of diced vegetables. This is particularly good as a first course for an elegant dinner party, because it can be prepared a few hours ahead—then all you have to do at serving time is to add the garnish.

Be sure to buy the freshest-possible fish. If you are not absolutely certain about its freshness, purchase it frozen, then defrost it slowly in the refrigerator.

Serve this with black bread or crunchy French bread.

• One 1¼-pound tuna steak, cleaned (see Note)
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup finely chopped shallots (about 2 large)
• ½ cup diced (¼-inch pieces) radishes
• ½ cup peeled, seeded, and diced (¼-inch pieces) cucumber (about ¼ cucumber)
• ½ cup diced (¼-inch pieces) mushrooms (about 3 medium)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cut the tuna into 6 equal pieces. Place a piece of tuna on a sheet of plastic wrap and lay another piece of plastic wrap on top. Pound the tuna with a meat pounder or a small heavy saucepan until it has flattened out into a thin piece 5 to 6 inches across. Remove the top layer of plastic wrap and sprinkle salt and pepper on the fish. Using the bottom layer of plastic wrap, invert the tuna onto a serving plate; peel off the plastic. Sprinkle the fish with more salt and pepper. Re-cover the fish with the plastic wrap. Repeat this procedure with the remaining pieces of tuna. Refrigerate while you prepare the garnishes or for up to 24 hours.

About 1 hour before serving, prepare the garnishes: Place the shallots in a sieve and rinse under cool water. (Rinsing removes the sulfuric acid, which tends to make chopped shallots and onions discolor and stings the eyes.) Drain, dry on a paper towel to remove the moisture, and place in a bowl.

At serving time, remove the plastic wrap from the tuna. Sprinkle the shallots, radishes, cucumber, mushrooms, and parsley evenly on top, then sprinkle each portion with approximately ½ teaspoon of the vinegar and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Serve immediately.

Note: If you will have to remove skin, sinew, and/or bone from the tuna, buy about 1½ pounds of tuna.