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Receta Grilled Tuna Steaks with Lemon Sauce
by Monte Mathews

The

Hamptons are rich in culinary talent. And Anna Pump is at the top of that

list. Her influence on local cooking and

eating reaches back to her arrival here in the late 1970s. Born in the town of Tarp, Germany, Anna and

her late husband, Detlef, escaped Nazi Germany in the 30s, first settling in New

Jersey where Detlef had a brother.

Offered a house in Southampton for two weeks one summer, the two fell

instantly in love with the area, which reminded them of Tarp. Even the potato fields felt familiar. Tucked up next to the Danish border, the town

has the Baltic on one side, the North Sea on the other. The couples’ two children, son Harm and

daughter Sybille were off to college so their parents went home to New Jersey

and came right back out looking for a house.

The one they found and lovingly saved from ruin is the same house Anna

lives in to this day.

Best of FriendsAnna

started cooking professionally in 1979.

She’d taken courses from James Beard among others and she says of

herself “ I learned that way. I’m not a chef at

all, I am a cook and I just loved it.”

My favorite story about Anna’s introduction to cooking in the Hamptons

involved that other Food Goddess in our midst, Ina Garten. At the time, Ina Garten’s Barefoot

Contessa was located in Westhampton.

Anna answered a classified ad for a cook, which Ina responded to by

asking her to come into the store and demonstrate her skills. Instead, Anna

invited Ina for a meal. Ina was bowled

over by Anna’s cooking, gave her the job and remains to this day one of Anna’s

closest friends. In fact, Ina’s

admiration is on full display on the cover of Anna’s most recent cookbook

“Summer on a Plate” (Simon and Schuster 2008).

She writes “No one has inspired me more than Anna Pump. Her recipes are simple, elegant and

absolutely delicious.” I think everyone

who has ever eaten anything Anna ever cooked feels exactly the same way. And we’ve all had plenty of opportunities to

sample her wonderful food.

Anna

wasn’t with Ina very long before a tiny little roadside food shop came up for

sale. In 1980, Anna bought “Loaves and

Fishes” in the equally tiny hamlet of

Sagaponack. There her output of

wonderful things to eat continues to this day.

Her fans are legion and while the place gained local notoriety when

Lobster Salad hit $100. a pound, there’s no stopping the store traffic. It’s good to remember that last time we

looked Sagaponack was the third most expensive zip code in the country, helped

no doubt by the presence of the largest private house in the country, Ira

Rennert’s Fair Field, a 63 acre property last valued at $170,000,000 in

2004. It’s not for sale. But right down the road is another little

piece of heaven that’s just taken a price drop to $59,000,000. But I digress.

In the Garden of

The Bridgehampton Inn“Loaves

and Fishes” is not Anna’s only venture in the Hamptons. In the early 1900s she

and Detfer bought a local landmark built in the 179os. With their daughter Sybille, they turned the

place into The Bridgehampton Inn where they not only have lodging, they also

have cooking classes. And right down the

street is the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop which Sybille and her husband, Gerritt van Kempen, own and operate. It’s locally famous for its “We accept Euros” sign and for the

fact that miraculously it carries merchandise no Williams-Sonoma store ever

has.

A colorful side dish of Grape TomatoesToday’s

post is an homage to Anna. Our dear, mutual friends Michael and Jim have birthdays very close together. And to

celebrate, Michael asked if we would make a recipe from Anna’s first Cookbook, “The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook”

(MacMillen 1985). It was the first time

in years that we’d had the dish which is an absolute shame. We used this as a dinner party dish for

several seasons when it was first published. At the time, tuna was

not the premium priced fish it is today.

Before the arrival of Sushi in every supermarket, tuna was a

bargain. Not any more. Even though this is a local fish, it rang up

at $24.00 a lb. But if ever a dish were

worth splurging on, this one is. The big

fish ‘steaks’ are first marinated for just one hour—no longer. While they sit in their mustard-lemon

marinade, you can put together your side dishes. I made a Grape Tomato sauté with shallots

and thyme and roasted some local asparagus in a 400 degree oven for 15

minutes. The fish can be grilled

outdoors or in. You can even use the

broiler if you want. It takes all of 4

minutes a side but check for doneness which will depend on how hot the grill

is and how thick your fish is. Pop the cooked fish into a warm

oven, keeping all the marinade that will then be added to the Lemon Sauce. And

oh what sauce! It’s light and lemony,

with a hint of rosemary and touch of garlic.

It looks beautiful on the fish and tastes even better on the plate. And if you have any tuna left over, you have

the makings of a flawless Salade Nicoise in your future. Here’s the

recipe and here’s to our heroine, Anna Pump.

Recipe for Grilled Fresh Tuna Steaks with Lemon Sauce

Serves 6 generous portions. Takes 1 hour 20 minutes to make including 1

hour marinating the fish.

sure they are completely covered with marinade.

Marinate 1 hour.

Pre-heat a grill or broiler until

very hot. Pre-heat warming drawer or

oven to 200 degrees.

Take the tuna from the casserole

dish, reserving the marinade for the sauce.

Grill the steaks until done. This

should take about 4 minutes a side but it’s highly dependent on how thick your

tuna steaks are and how your heat source. Test for doneness.

Arrange the tuna steaks on a warm

platter and put them in the warming drawer or 200 degree oven while you make

the sauce.

To make the sauce, melt the butter

in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour.

Simmer stirring until all the lumps are gone. Add the chicken stock stirring constantly

until the sauce begins to thicken. Add

the cream, salt and pepper. Bring to a

bubbling boil. Remove from the heat. Add

the marinade and stir. Cover the fish lightly with

sauce. Put the rest in a sauce boat and

serve it on the side. Garnish the

platter with the lemon slices and herbs.