PORT TOWNSEND — Canned tuna is an essential part of the standard emergency food supply, but 40 participants in a local canning workshop will now have a different view of that particular pantry staple.
“After this, canned tuna is ruined for you for life,” said Bellingham fisherman Jeremy Brown, who loaned both his expertise and 14 pressure cookers to the canning event.
On Sunday, the sustainable foods advocacy group Slow Foods borrowed a caterer’s kitchen for the process, which provided each participant with at least a case of the freshly canned tuna to take home for the holidays and beyond.
The day at Dundee Hill Community Center began with the slicing of 850 pounds of line-caught tuna into slightly-larger-than-bite-size chunks, then placing them into half-pint glass jars with salt, oil and a few carrot pieces.
Brown said the carrots neutralized the acidity of the fresh albacore and significantly improved the taste.
Once sealed, the jars were placed into the pressure cookers for 90 minutes, then taken out to cool.
“The tuna is raw when it is put in the steamer,” said Nicole Curry during the process. “Canned tuna at the store is cooked before it is put into the can, that’s why it is so dry and flaky.”
The tuna, which was passed around for samples, falls between the dry canned stuff and the seared albacore served at a sushi bar.
Seventy cases — 840 tins — of tuna were produced Sunday, with most participants taking home the booty right away.
The tuna is a delicacy and is priced accordingly.
The workshop cost $53 a person with each person getting a case of 12 cans, which averages out to $4 a can.
Multiple cases
That’s not an issue, as several people bought multiple cases, and the idea follows the proverb about teaching people how to fish.
“People who came here today might not learn everything they need to know in order to do this at home,” said North Olympic Peninsula Slow Foods co-chair Dennis Daneau.
“But they will learn a lot about the sustainable food process.”
“This is a great way to bring people together,” said Brown, who is in the seventh year of the event in Bellingham. “This is a community project.”
This has to do with both people and resources, as Brown’s connection with the Bellingham food community granted him access to all the jars needed for this year’s canning activity at a discount price.
This is the second Port Townsend event, which Daneau hopes will continue on an annual basis.
Brown’s knowledge guided the project, but his pressure cookers were essential.
He has gathered his collection of the cookers over several years, and they were all lined up on the outside deck in sequence.
“I used to be able to buy them at garage sales, where someone was selling grandma’s old pressure cooker for $10,” he said.
“They’re more expensive now — people know what they’re worth.”
Meeting people
Slow Foods co-chair Joyce Gustafson said most of the participants did not know each other before Sunday.
She said the new acquaintances worked in cordial teams, conversing easily while following the procedure.
Brown said participants in this event and others like it will leave with more than a few cans of tasty fish.
“Ideally, we are going to see community kitchens become more of a feature,” he said.
“Slow Foods isn’t just about not eating hamburgers, it’s getting people to renew their relationship to food and how it affects how they relate to other people.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
