I’ll Have Tuna

While we’re not quite sure how tuna salad became a seuda
shlishis staple we can tell you how it became an indispensable American
food. 

Culinary evidence from old cookbooks and restaurant menus
confirms cooked chicken and mayonnaise-type salads were popular in America all
the way back to colonial times. They were extremely popular in the mid-late
19th century.

Canned tuna was first introduced and mass marketed to the
American public in 1903. It began as the sardine canning industry but quickly
expanded to tuna when there was a dearth of sardines.  It was discovered that steam cooked tuna
resulted in a hearty tasty dish.  Canned
tuna quickly became popular as an alternative to salads made from chicken and
turkey. During WWI its widespread use as the perfect protein for American
doughboys helped the industry expand.

Ladies magazines in the early 1900’s touted canned tuna
as a handy item for good housekeepers and offered some suggestions on how to
serve it. Here is an early recipe:

Tuna fish salad
1 can Tuna fish
shredded lettuce
salt and red pepper to taste
1 tablespoonful vinegar
2 tablespoonfuls lemon-juice
Mayonnaise dressing
1 tablespoonful capers
1 hard-cooked egg
2 or 3 stuffed olives.
Line a salad dish with shredded lettuce. Break the fish into pieces and place
it on top of the lettuce. Mix the salt, red pepper, lemon-juice, and vinegar together
and pour over the fish. Chill, and when ready to serve, decorate with the
capers, slices of hard-cooked egg, and the stuffed olives. Service with
mayonnaise dressing. Another method.–Flake one can of Tuna fish with a silver
fork, add one and one-half cupful of diced celery and one-half cupful of broken
English walnut meats, mix with mayonnaise–or boiled dressing. Serve on crisp
lettuce leaves.”
—Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes [1916]

Of course you can stick with just a bit of mayonnaise to
make your tuna salad; we think you will want to try some of our interesting
options.

Japanese Tuna Salad

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

Salt and pepper

2 cans water-packed tuna, well drained

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1½ teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1½ tablespoons Asian sesame oil

3 tablespoons canola oil

2 celery ribs, finely chopped

5 scallions, minced

½ cup finely chopped nori (about 2 sheets)

1½ tablespoons black sesame seeds

Toss cucumber with ½ teaspoon salt in a strainer or
colander set over a bowl. Drain for at least 1 hour. Rinse cucumber, dry with
paper towels, and place in medium bowl (you should have about 1¼ cups).

In another medium bowl, use a fork to stir the tuna, 1
tablespoon rice vinegar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste, flaking tuna as
you stir. In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, garlic,
ginger, and pepper to taste to combine. Vigorously whisk in sesame and canola
oils. Add dressing, celery, scallion, nori, sesame seeds, and cucumber to tuna
mixture and stir until well combined and tuna is evenly moistened.

Mediterranean Tuna and Salad

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

2 cans tuna, well drained

2½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

¼ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

6 red radishes, finely chopped

1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons capers, drained, rinsed, and chopped

2 cups baby arugula leaves, roughly chopped

In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir tuna, 1½ tablespoons
lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste, flaking tuna as you stir. In
a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, oil, garlic, remaining 1 tablespoon lemon
juice, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste until smooth and uniform. Scrape
the dressing mixture into the tuna, add radishes, chickpeas, capers, and
onions, and stir until well combined and tuna is evenly moistened. Add the
arugula and stir to combine.