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Tunasturtium Salad
MINCED PARSLEY MAYONNAISE NASTURTIUM FLOWERS CAPERS SOUR PICKLES, CHOPPED FRENCH DRESSING Break tunny fish with a fork, sprinkle with parsley to your liking, then mix with enough mayonnaise to hold the fish together. Pinch off nasturtium stems and throw them away. Open each blossom, pinch out the green pistil, and fill the whole cavity with tuna mixture, also put a caper and a bit of pickle in each one. Then rearrange the petals so they look natural again. Sprinkle a few drops of French dressing on the outside and there you are! Also see Nasturtium Salad, under Salads
A stuffed-blossom canapé that depends entirely on the flowers being fresh, dry and unwilted. Everything else can be prepared ahead; the filling should go in within an hour of serving.
- Tunny fishBritish and older American usage for tuna. Canned tuna in oil, well drained, flakes and holds together better here than water-packed.
- QuantitiesThe original gives none. As a rough guide, a small can of tuna with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise and a tablespoon of minced parsley will fill a couple of dozen average nasturtium blossoms, depending on their size.
- Picking the flowersUse blossoms from plants that have not been sprayed. Pick in the morning while they are firm, and take the largest open flowers; small or half-open ones tear when you spread the petals.
- CleaningNasturtiums harbour aphids in the throat of the flower and behind the spur. Swish the blossoms in cold water, invert them on a towel and let them drain and dry completely before filling, or the mayonnaise will slacken.
- "Pinch out the green pistil"What you are removing is the pistil and stamens at the base of the cup. Leave the nectar spur, the little tail behind the flower, intact; it holds the flower's nectar.
- French dressingIn this period the term means a plain oil-and-vinegar vinaigrette, roughly three parts oil to one part vinegar with salt and pepper, not the sweetened orange bottled dressing sold under that name today.
- SaltCapers, pickle and mayonnaise all carry salt, so season the tuna lightly if at all and taste before filling.
- Holding and servingFilled blossoms collapse in the refrigerator. Assemble them close to serving and set them on a bed of nasturtium leaves, which are edible and equally peppery.