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FAIRBANKS — Until I started researching this article, I was certain of only three things about canned tuna fish.

First, it is a cheap food. Every time I go to a grocery store I scope out the price, because tuna is often on an unadvertised special. That is why at our house we are eating the last of Safeway’s 50 cents-per-can tuna, purchased when there was no limit on number so we bought 2 cases. But even when there are no specials, Fred Meyer carries a house brand for 77 cents a can, although you can only buy 2 at a time. If you are willing to pay more, you can find stores carrying flavored tunas, such as lemon, lemon pepper or chipotle.

Second, it is a good source of protein. Your typical 5-ounce water packed can contains, per serving: 11 grams of protein, .5 grams of fat, and no carbs. An identical sized can of oil packed contains, per serving: 8 grams of protein, 4 grams of fat, and 2 grams of carbs. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggests that pregnant women eat no more than 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna a week. It has a mercury content three times that of other canned tunas, such as solid, chunk or flaked, and mercury ignores the protective barrier of the placenta and marches right to the baby’s brain.)

The third of the three canned tuna facts I knew is that I desperately miss tuna packed in oil — specifically olive oil. Unless a recipe demands it, these days I confine myself to dreaming about the aroma and texture of oil based canned tuna. For a long time I resisted the food police who insisted we all switch to water packed tuna before allowing another tuna sandwich to pass the lips. As justification for my refusal to acquiesce, I cited the food writers who universally agree that oil processed tuna always tastes better because water processing leaches out the flavor; in fact, the longer a can sits there, the more the olive oil marinade improves the flavor.

But then most companies switched to vegetable oil, so the taste of the tuna changed and I finally gave in. But I still dream of olive oil processed tuna, and at Christmas someone in my family always gives me a few cans — truly a gift of love, since a can of olive oil based Lazio or El Batel Spanish albacore is beastly difficult to find and can cost $6 a can or more, plus shipping.

Here are the things I learned about canned tuna after I started this writing assignment. First, a piece of tuna history: In ancient Carthage, tuna was packed in brine and used like money. According to a blurb on tuna canning that ran in Saveur Magazine, “The first American cannery was established in New York in 1812, packing oysters, among other foods, first in glass and then in tin…In 1903, when the annual run of Pacific sardines didn’t show up as scheduled in Southern California, canner Albert P. Halfhill had his workers pack tuna instead —and lunch as we know it was born.” More than 100 years later, we are still benefiting from Halfhill’s flash of genius.

Second, tuna is a general name and the can you open can contain several varieties of this member of the mackerel family — including albacore, skipjack, bluefin and yellowfin. Albacore is the only variety that is allowed to be labeled white meat, which is what justifies its much higher price, although many people find the darker and stronger tasting meats of the bluefin, yellowfin and skipjack much more to their liking.

Third, no matter what the variety, all of these fish are warm-blooded, and can get sufficient oxygen only if they move quickly enough to insure that, as one writer put it, “oxygen-rich water is incessantly rushing over their gills.” They can swim 100 miles a day, at speeds up to 40 miles an hour. That is why the flesh of tuna is so much firmer than other fish — those are well exercised muscles you are eating.

Fourth, there are very specific guidelines as to how those muscles are labeled on the can, meaning whether they are called solid, chunk or flaked. Solid tuna, also known as solid packed or fancy, has a solid piece of tuna loin in the can. Chunk tuna is a collection of pieces that broke off the loin while it was being processed for a solid packed can. And flaked tuna is all the rest.

Finally, what I really could not explain until I started preparing this article was why we usually call it tuna fish, when we never say salmon fish or turbot fish. Apparently not too many people wonder about this, because I had to search back through 10 years of New York Times archived articles to find the reason. So, my thanks to writer Suzanne Hamlin, who revealed the secret in 1997. “Canned tuna is called ‘tuna fish’ in the United States and ‘tunny fish’ in Britain, names that may seem redundant now but at one time were probably enlightening to two nations largely unfamiliar with fresh tuna.”

She goes on to say that the southern Italian immigrants living in Southern California when the calendar rolled over to the 1900s, “began to catch and can tuna…few landlocked Americans were familiar with many ocean fish. As canned goods began to be sold throughout the country, canners did not want any confusion: Better that people knew tuna was fish, not tomatoes, say, or beans.”

So, as the season progresses and you find yourself tired of the excesses and expenses of the holidays, join a century of folks who came before you and open a can of tuna for a fast, cheap and nutritious meal.

The list of recipes below will give you some alternatives beyond the tuna sandwich, although even that humble meal can be dressed up with very little effort. Try mixing in additions such as capers, caramelized onions, black olives, diced hard boiled eggs, or raw or lightly sautéed bell peppers. Plain or gussied up, pile a mound of tuna on a slice of bread, layer on some cheese, broil and serve open-faced. Rolls and English muffins also work well, and I have friends who swear by tortilla shelled versions. If you don’t eat bread, slice a tomato in half and scoop out most of the meat and seeds. Fill with tuna, sprinkle on cheese, and broil.

I have also added tuna to macaroni and cheese; in fact, this is sort of a family favorite. Or try mixing it into a store-bought white sauce and serving it over pasta or toasted English muffins. I have added a can of tuna to a bag of Green Giant cauliflower with cheese mix and served it over pasta.

Heck, I’m not snooty: I’ve added tuna to cream of mushroom soup, thrown in a half a cup of whatever cheese I have hanging around, a can of tuna and a little milk and poured all of that over leftover rice or noodles. (If I have a spare onion or some bell peppers past their prime, I sauté them up and add it to the mixture.) When you are at the end of your money or your energy, or both, this is a filling meal that gets to the table fast.

I am not a big fan of mixing tuna and tomato sauce, but the Nov. 1, 2008 issue of Woman’s Day convinced me to boil up and drain a pound of pasta, pour on a 25 ounce jar of puttanesca pasta sauce, and mix in a can of drained tuna in oil. Extremely fast and pretty yummy, even if you use another type of tomato sauce.

For dozens of other tuna options, click on the recipe section in the StarKist, Bumble Bee or Chicken of the Sea websites. (And if you are concerned about it, their sites talk about how they insure that they don’t catch dolphins when they are pulling up tuna.)

Linden Staciokas has gardened in the Interior for more than two decades. Send gardening questions to her at dorking@acsalaska.net.

Tuna Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 potatoes

1/2 cup milk (one half)

2 cans tuna packed in water, well drained

1/4 cup scallions, finely chopped (one fourth)

1 cup of corn

1/2 cup of your favorite melting cheese (one half)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (one half)

Directions:

Bake the potatoes and when they are cool enough to handle, slice them in half and scoop out the centers. Mix the rest of the ingredients into the scooped out potato flesh.

Mound the stuffing back into the hollowed out skins. Bake at 350 degrees for about half an hour, until the centers are hot. Serve.

TUNA CHOWDER

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, chopped up into small pieces

1 large onion, diced

4 potatoes, diced

4 cans of tuna packed in water, well drained

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

2 cups chicken broth (I prefer to use water and chicken bouillon granules, since I can make the broth weaker or stronger, to suit my taste)

2 cups evaporated milk or half and half (don’t use fat free, as that has more sugar to compensate for the lack of fat and will change the taste of the soup)

6 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup of warm water

Directions:

In a soup pot, sauté the bacon until it is translucent and then add in the onions. Keep frying until the onions are golden. Add in the potatoes and sauté for about five more minutes. If there is any bacon fat left, drain it off.

Add the tuna, mushrooms, chicken broth and half and half and bring to a simmer. (If you allow it to boil, it will separate. It is still edible, but ugly.) Meanwhile, in a bowl or cup, stir the flour and water into a thin paste; if it is too thick, add a tiny bit more water. Stir this paste into the soup until it is smooth and thickened.

Serve. (This tastes even better the next day. If you don’t like mushrooms, stir in a similar amount of corn or finely chopped kale. You can also throw in other left over fish, such as salmon or halibut. This is a very forgiving soup.)

TUNA CAKES

Ingredients:

3 cans of albacore tuna, with the water drained off and then flaked

1 and 1/4 pound of leftover mashed potatoes (one and one fourth pound of potatoes)

1/4 cup scallions, finely chopped (one fourth)

1 large egg or two small ones, beaten

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon Dijon or coarse brown mustard (optional)

Juice of a quarter of a lemon

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (one fourth)

Olive oil

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir together the mashed potatoes, fish, flour, scallions, egg, mustard and the lemon juice and pepper. Form into eight or 10 patties, putting a dusting of flour on your hands if necessary to work with the sticky dough; if it has a hard time holding together, add another beaten egg.

Cover the plate and put in the fridge for about an hour so they will get hard enough to retain their shape when frying. When you are ready, put a thin layer of olive oil in the pan and heat.

Add the patties and cook on one side until crisp and brown, about 3 to 4 minutes; flip over and do the other side. Serve.

POTATO AND TUNA CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup finely diced onions (one half)

4 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon pepper

2 cups milk

2 cans of tuna packed in water, well drained

4 cups of thinly sliced potatoes

1/2 cup grated or crumbled melting cheese, such as Double Gloucester or cheddar (one half)

Directions:

Sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Slowly stir in the flour and the pepper, then stir in the milk until it all thickens slightly. Add in the tuna and stir until well blended.

Layer the potato slices in a casserole dish and then pour the mixture over it. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Uncover and sprinkle on the cheese. Return to the oven and continue baking for another half hour, or until potatoes are done.

cutlines

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Whether solid, chunk or flaked, canned tuna fish is an inexpensive, tasty treat and can be used in more recipes than most people think. Chowders, casseroles, pastas, cakes, and the stand-by sandwich are all good uses.

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A tuna sandwich can easily be spiced up with some fresh tomato slices, or other additives like sauteed peppers, olives or carmelized onions.

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Don’t like bread? Take that classic tuna salad recipe and stick it a pita. Like tuna sandwiches, simple additions like tomatoes add to the flavor.

Photo courtesy Linden Staciokas

This Tuna Chowder is a simple creation sure to please the whole family, especially on a chilly winter day.