Argentinian Vitel Toné Recipe

Vitel Toné is a traditional Argentinian dish consisting of veal served with a creamy tuna-anchovy sauce. The veal is poached until tender then sliced. The sauce is made using tuna, anchovies, capers, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard and seasonings. It is slathered over the veal and topped with additional capers.

Vitel Toné is eaten as a main meal and is usually served chilled or at room temperature.Variations include using sliced turkey or chicken, particularly outside of Argentina where veal meat is less commonly available. The seafood variation uses poached fish.

Mayonnaise has become a standard ingredient in the sauce, but it was not originally an ingredient in the dish. Instead, the tuna would be pounded, giving the sauces its creaminess.

Vitel Toné does not exactly translate into English. It is a derivative from the name of the original dish, Vitello Tonnato. Though less used, Vitel Toné is also known as Ternera Atunada which translates to veal or calf tuna.

Origin and Significance

Vitel Toné comes from the Italian dish Vitello Tonnato, which also translates to “veal tuna”. The dish was brought to Argentina by Italian immigrants who settled there. Currently more than half of the Argentinian population is fully or partially Italian descendants.

While the original Vitello Tonnato was eaten cold during the Italian summer months of June to August. Argentinians like to prepare Vitel Toné for Christmas where it is also served cold because of their location in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas time in Argentina is warm and summer falls between the months of December to February.

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Argentinian Vitel Toné Recipe

Yield: 6 Servings

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Vitel Toné is a traditional Argentinian dish of veal served with a creamy tuna-anchovy sauce.

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Ingredients

• Veal - 1.8 lb
• Celery - 1 stalk
• Bay leaf - 1
• Rosemary - 1 pinch
• Parsley - 1 pinch
• Tuna - 5 cans
• Anchovy fillets - 6
• Capers - 2 tbsp
• Mayonnaise - 9 oz.
• Carrot - 1
• Beef broth - 1 tbsp
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp
• White wine - 3.5 oz.
• Black pepper - 1 pinch
• Salt - 1 pinch

Instructions

1. In a pot, cover the veal with water.
2. Add the chopped carrot, celery, bay leaf, rosemary and parsley, a dash of olive oil and the white wine.
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook over medium heat for about an hour and a half until tender. The final time will depend on the size of the piece.
5. Remove the meat from the pot when it is well done and let it cool.
6. Save the broth to use later.
7. Cut the beef into very thin fillets and set them aside on a plate while the vitel toné sauce is being prepared.
8. Place the mayonnaise, tuna, anchovies and capers into a blender.
9. Pour in a little broth from cooking the meat and blend until the mixture becomes a homogeneous cream.
10. Cover the meat with the sauce and add some capers on top to garnish.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 743Total Fat: 50gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 36gCholesterol: 210mgSodium: 683mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 63g

Nutrition is provided and calculated by Nutritionix. It is for general information purposes and is only a rough estimation.