Go and watch tuna, or other canned fish, being processed in the factory. You’ll never have to worry about eating it ever again.
I suspect that watching ANY food being processed in the factory would put me on a permanent fast.
The evidence that millions of people do eat it successfully despite all the “ick factor” in the production process says clearly that the mistake isn’t eating it. The mistake would be letting the “ick factor” influence your / anyone’s decision.
I initially read the name as James Bond, and was going to protest that you’d forever ruined my image of Sean Connery.
But nevermind.
Due to this thread I will be using split pitas for tuna melts, unless I already have bread. Thanks to @QuickSilver for the idea.
I’ve been on a bit of a tuna melt tear this week. Salad was made from low-mid quality StarKist Chunk Light tuna in water with mayo, chopped onion and capers. Sandwiches have been the salad, some dijon mustard, Lorraine swiss, mayo on the exterior with a dusting of S&P, basil & oregano.
Bumping this thread to tell you that I think that I introduced the tuna melt to northern Scotland.
I was visiting my ancestral village in Scotland about 15 years ago, and we went into the only restaurant in the village for a bit of lunch. On the menu they had grilled cheese and they had tuna salad sandwiches. I asked the patron if I could have grilled cheese with tuna salad in it. He said he had never heard of it, but agreed to make one for me. A few minutes later he brought out two. One for me, and one for himself. He loved it and the rest is history!
And thus does local cuisine spread around our world. Nice work!
Finally remembered to try this, with a few changes: No celery, mashed black beans, peperoncino pepper and used Catheral Cheddar. I also made it one day ahead. We both enjoyed it and will definitely be keeping this recipe.
Started off wanting to just try my normal recipe with a pita, but ended up try a lot more. Will probably try the jalapeno and a different cheese as well, but I was trying to clean out the fridge as well.
To me, tuna will always be considered cat food. When I was growing up, we had a cat that absolutely freaking adored tuna. Like, all my dad had to do was start getting the ingredients out to make tuna salad and put them on the counter, and she’d just go nuts.
When she died, he put a can of tuna with her when we buried her.
So even if I did like tuna, I just couldn’t eat it – it’s not people food to me.
Ours would ignore us all day but the second the can opener would break the seal of the tuna can she’d be down in the kitchen howling for her share. She’s no longer with us but I still can’t open a can of tuna without thinking about her.
Funny, I’m just now watching the Dirty Jobs episode where Mike Rowe is on a fishing boat on the Bering Sea, catching, processing, and freezing fish. Mostly cod. … the things that come out of cod are horrifying to the casual viewer!
I heard the same opinion more recently from Anthony Bourdain, but with the qualification that he meant the expensive Spanish or Portuguese canned tuna, packed in olive oil. I don’t think he [Bourdain, that is, bot Beard] meant canned tune is always better than fresh, but it can be if you get the good stuff.
I agree. Tuna stinks.
I can’t eat anything I hate the smell of.
I like tuna salad sandwiches, but it is one of those things where I think typically you should make them at home. It’s not that a restaurant couldn’t probably easily do a better job than me, it’s that in my experience tuna salad at sub shops isn’t something the restaurant seems to care about or take a lot of pride in. They slap the salad together in the morning while doing prep, dump it in a plastic container and scoop it out haphazardly whenever it is ordered, once the sub is wrapped you also have a very short window to eat it before the bread will get unpleasant.
At home I really like this recipe for Tuna salad:
- 2 5oz cans of “chunk white albacore”
- 2 tbsp Mayo (I prefer a rich mayo like Duke’s or Hellman’s, not Lite or Miracle Whip)
- 1/2 tbsp of “prepared horseradish”
- 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp of sweet relish
- 1 tbps of capers
Season to taste with salt and pepper. I like a “thick” consistency to my tuna salad, usually I add in the worcestershire sauce last and stir with the other ingredients, and before adding it in the mixture is usually pretty thick and the Worcestershire just slightly thins it out. Keep in mind you have control of the consistency by controlling the ratio of mayo to tuna, so adjust according to your tastes.
I really like serving it on something like a buttered toasted sourdough bread with some fresh shredded sharp cheddar cheese melted on.
Also tuna related, I ordered a Niçoise Salad to be delivered for dinner. Unfortunately the place canceled the order, probably due to being overrun by football fans. So, no tuna for me today. 
I’ve had two outstandingly good tuna sandwiches. One was $15, and worth every penny. I got the other one at a co-op grocery store yesterday, and I should have saved the list of ingredients so I could try to make it myself. When I try to make tuna salad, it’s never good. I’m bad at lunch, in general.
This reminds me of the time my church youth group went on a progressive dinner. The first two stops went well. Then we got to the main course- the preacher’s wife served us tuna burgers she had made. To clarify, she served teenagers tuna burgers.
Apprehension, revulsion, and disappointment ruled the rest of the night.
A favorite Calvin & Hobbes:
My beloved Bitty Brat (miss ya big fella) was very something between demanding and aggressive when the tuna can opened. Sorta like the calvin and hobbes cartoon above.
I have two recipes for tuna I like.
chunked sweet pickles, onion, chopped cabbage, ranch dressing mix, and some ratio of salad dressing or mayo to sour cream. I tend to have almost more vegetables than tuna and make it on the drier side with less dressing, unless I’m making a melt, then a dab more dressing gets added.
My quick “bachelor meal” recipe is tuna, onion, sweet pickle if I have any, and brown mustard. Eaten on saltine crackers