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06/03/1999 Archived Entry: "When raw fish really isn't"

There is raw fish and then, there is raw fish. Sushi is really raw fish. Ceviche, which is enjoying a vogue in New York this year, is not really raw fish. But almost. It’s a South American way of “cooking” the fish without heat but in citrus juice. Lime juice is the most common, but orange, sour orange, and lemon juice are also used. The acid in the citrus makes the fish opaque, as if it was heated, and gives it a “cooked” texture. After marinating, the fish -- could be fin fish, but also scallops, shrimp, clams ... you name it from the ocean -- is tossed with other ingredients to make a sort of fish salad.

I recently ate a quartet of ceviches at a new restaurant in New York called Sonora (222 E. 39th St., near Third Ave; 212-297-0280). The chef-owner, Rafael Palomino, cooks Nuevo Latino, meaning contemporary takes on traditional Latin American dishes, and his ceviche appetizer consists of four sherry glasses, each with a ceviche based on a recipe from a different South American country -- Peru (where ceviche started), Chile, Columbia and Ecuador. One has avocado chunks in it, one has a tomato base, one is very citrusy, and one is based on octopus. (By the way, Rafael is also the author of a wonderful cookbook called Bistro Latino, which has several ceviche recipes.)

I tell you this to explain that there isn’t only one ceviche and that you can play with the idea. On recent trips to Italy, for instance, I’ve noticed “pesce crudo” has become quite popular, but the fish is never really, as the Italian word “crudo” means, raw. It is actually dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, the lemon juice invariably going on first so that its acidity “cooks” the fish slightly before the oil dresses it.

The following recipe is that sort of ceviche or pesce crudo. It is not authentic anything, just delicious.

How long you marinate the fish depends on how “raw” you like. After 2 1/2 hours, most of the salmon will still look raw. After 12 hours it should look partly “cooked” -- light pink instead of raw-pink. If refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving to take the deep chill off. It’s a great recipe to use for summer entertaining. It makes a wonderful first course or, with a salad, a light lunch. It’s so rich you can’t eat too much of it.


Ceviche of Salmon
Serves about 6

2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno pepper (with or without seeds, depending on how hot you want it)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3/4 to 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds salmon filet, on its skin and in one piece approximately 8 inches long and 8 inches wide

In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the salmon.

Assemble the dish at least 2 1/2 hours before serving and as much as 12 hours:

With a very sharp, long-bladed knife, slice the salmon as thin as possible, working at a sharp diagonal and cutting in the same direction as the grain of the fish -- in other words, the way smoked salmon is usually sliced. Discard the skin.

Arrange half the salmon slices in one layer (they may be very slightly overlapping) in a large, shallow serving dish or 9- by 12-inch glass (or stainless steel) baking (or roasting) pan.

Drizzle on half the sauce.

Cover with the rest of the salmon slices and spread with the remaining sauce.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Serve with wedges of lime, if desired, and thinly sliced white toast or black bread.