Moscow Food Co-op Food ReviewTuna
by Vicki Reich, from the March 2003 Newsletter
The Mouth is back. I hope all of my loyal readers missed me and you weren't lost and confused in the aisles trying to decide what was the best thing to choose from our wide selection of products. I needed a little vacation for the last couple of months, but our friend the tuna fish drew me back to the tasting table.
It happened innocently in Aisle 3 while I was stocking cans of tuna. Why did we have so many varieties and was there really a difference between them all? I knew I had an ally in my quest since Brenda, our illustrious personal care assistant, is a big fan of tuna fish and when I proposed a taste test, she jumped all over it.
I grabbed six cans off the shelf and headed for the kitchen in search of a can opener. I limited my selection to water-packed and salted tuna, to keep everyone on an even playing field. Back in the staff room, Laura, Brenda, and I grabbed our forks and dug in.
First visual impressions gave Bela Skipjack Tuna Fillet the lead, it looks flaky and has a rich color. It comes out of the can looking like a tuna fillet. Natural Value White Albacore Tuna was the next best looking. This is a much lighter colored tuna and also looked very flaky but round like a can. The rest of the bunch, Natural Value Yellowfin, Natural Sea Chunk Light, Deep Sea Tongol, and Bela Skipjack Tuna Steaks, looked pretty much like canned tuna.
Tasting started with the Natural Value Albacore. This is the mildest tuna with a nice texture and flavor. It reminded me of the tuna my grandmother always used to make tuna salad. It would be the best choice for people who didn't like too much fish taste out of their fish.
Second in line for the fork was Natural Value Yellowfin Tuna. This is a much saltier tuna (250 mg of sodium compared to 150mg in the albacore). It has a drier texture but a richer tuna flavor than the albacore.
Next up was Natural Sea, which is similar in taste to the Natural Value yellowfin, but has a moister texture and a less solid texture. This was Laura and Brenda's second favorite.
Deep Sea tuna was our fourth selection. Although it looked kind of mushy, it's moist and tasty and not too salty. I'd make tuna salad out of it rather than a dish where you wanted a nice flaked presentation. It was my second favorite.
Next up was the beautiful looking Bela Fillets. It tastes as good as it looks. It has a full tuna flavor, it's moist and flaky, and was our overwhelming favorite.
Lastly, we tried the Bela Steaks. I was surprised to find a difference in taste between the Bela tunas, but the steaks are saltier and don't have quite as good consistency. However, it does have a bold tuna flavor and a moist texture.
It was quite a lunch the three of us had, not much diversity, but delicious nonetheless. My dog, Powder, also benefited from the taste test when my husband left him in the car for 5 minutes with the leftovers. He liked them all, too.
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