Atum de Cebolada

Tuna

• 4 tuna steaks, ~180 g, 2 cm thick
• 2 garlic, crushed, for the seasoning
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 0 to taste salt and pepper

Cebolada

• 4 onions, sliced
• 2 garlic, sliced
• 60 ml olive oil
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 0.5 tsp sweet paprika
• 100 ml white wine

Season the tuna, build the cebolada

1. 1

   Season 4 tuna steaks (~180 g, 2 cm thick) with salt, pepper, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, and rest 20 min while you make the sauce.

   20m

   Searing Tuna to the Point (à point)
2. 2

   For the cebolada, cook 4 sliced onions and 2 sliced garlic cloves gently in 60 ml olive oil over low heat 15–20 min until soft, sweet and slumping. Add 2 chopped tomatoes, 1 bay leaf and ½ tsp sweet paprika and cook 10 min more, then 100 ml white wine and a 5-min simmer to a loose, spoonable sauce. Season.

   25mlow

   The slow conversion from sharp to jammy is the entire point — don't rush the onions.

   Slow Onion Sauce (Cebolada / Zwiebelsauce)

Sear and marry

1. 3

   Get a pan genuinely hot, film it with oil, and sear the tuna ~1–2 min per side, leaving the centre pink. (For the eastern-Algarve tradition take it more done, but pull it before it greys fully.)

   4mhigh

   Tuna punishes overcooking by going dry and chalky — sear hot and brief.

   Searing Tuna to the Point (à point)
2. 4

   Nestle the steaks into the cebolada, spoon the onions over, and warm together just 1–2 min — the residual heat finishes the fish without stewing it to dust. Serve with boiled potatoes or bread to take up the sauce.

   2m