(Photo by Mario Carvajal)
The Argentine Christmas menu is varied, sometimes it includes asado and others a broad selection of cold dishes such as chicken, stuffed tomatoes, deviled eggs, piononos, palm hearts, salads and more. Most often it is a combination of the two. What is almost never missing is a Piedmontese dish called Vitel Thoné, which consists of cold sliced meat coated by a sauce of egg, tuna, capers, olive oil, cream and anchovies. Below we share the recipe in case you want to bring it to your own Christmas table:
Ingredients:
- 1-11/2 Kg of round stake/silverside
- Onion, carrot, bay leaf, and garlic for the broth
- 8 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 10-12 anchovies
- 2 cans of tuna fish (in brine or oil)
- 1 cup of cream or 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons of capers
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions:
- Clean the steak from fat or covering membrane.
- Place steak with salt and vegetables for broth in a large pot of water and boil for approximately an hour or an hour and a half (until it is tender).
- Let cool in the broth.
- Slice into thin pieces.
- In a blender combine the yolks of the 8 hard-boiled eggs, the tuna and the olive oil until a paste is formed.
- Add approximately one cup of broth.
- Add anchovies, mustard, salt and a generous amount of pepper.
- Add the cream/mayonnaise.
- If the sauce is too thick then add a bit more broth.
- Layer the steak slices in a deep dish and cover each layer with the sauce. Sprinkle the capers on top.
- Refrigerate for a few hours to enhance the flavor.
