Saturday Beefcake, Todd Sanfield, and Tuna Steak

Before becoming an underwear entrepreneur Todd Sanfield was much in demand as a model. In the meantime he posted this on Facebook: I have to take care of my people for Valentine's Day! Here you go guys! Please... make sure you take care of that special someone!

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Here is one of our posts from the past.

Todd Sanfield Redux and

There's a temptation to tell you, dear reader, to forget the recipe here, because the young man pictured here is enough to make you eat the grapes off the wallpaper. With that in mind Pasta Puttanesca -- "whorish pasta" -- seemed to be the appropriate dish, since the young man pictured here (Todd Sanfield photographed by Lewis Payton) brings out those kinds of impulses. Go here for another first course. It is a piquant and easy sauce from the Roman working class, which is now a classic national dish, much like most whores.

There are many definitions of what a whore is and many languages have so many different words that refer to it. Sophia Loren used to glory in playing them on screen. The common thread seems to be overt and frequent sexual expression. Like almost anything there's a good and bad side to it. Sometimes it means just having fun. Well, anyway it used to.

Coming up this week -- Tuesday to be exact -- is yet another commercial occasion which is in reality based on a feast from the Roman Martyrology which is in reality based on a pagan feast. Yet again it is mired in confusion and hype. We won't go there, just enough to remember that sensuality and fertility is definitely part of the equation.



Pauline Campanelli tells us in Wheel of the Year that [Saint] Valentine's Day, with its roots in the ancient fertility rites of the Lupercalia, in the worship of Juno, and in the love of Cupid [Eros] for Psyche, is a celebration of the heart ... Light pink candles and burn sweet incense ... share the love with someone." It is a directive that goes somewhat beyond fertility rites and the sensuality with which we started all of this; still it requires more than one of the senses if not fertility per se.

The ancient rituals had much to do with frolic and misrule, the remnants of which are found in Mardi Gras and Carnevale. The idea was to impregnate the earth -- perhaps to remind her that Spring time growth was just around the bend.

Friday's recipe provided an interesting antipasto, and, of course the Puttanesca will serve as the first course (primo piatto) and the second course (entree or secondo piatto) will be a sweet and sour taste treat. Sweet and sour is precisely that in experience, but what it also does is point out that there is something sweet in a dish where sweetness isn't usually expected. Perhaps that it is what good, sensual love should be -- a sweet surprise, much like the young man found in the pages of DNA #84. Well, if anyone were going to impregnate the earth ...




Trance di Tonno in Salsa Rinascimentale
(a tuna recipe from the Renaissance)

Prunes, 12 pitted
Dry White Wine, a small glass
Tuna Steaks, 4 no more than 3/4 in thick
Olive Oil, four tablespoons
Shallot, finely sliced
Balsamic Vinegar, one and half tablespoons
Grated Nutmeg, one half teaspoon
Ground Cloves, three quarter teaspoon
Cinnamon, three quarter teaspoon
Sea Salt, Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Saffron, one teaspoon threads
Stock, vegetable or chicken, one half cup
Preheated 400F oven

1. Soak the prunes in the wine for about an hour.
2. Lay the tuna steaks in a greased (with some of the oil) shallow roasting pan.
3. The shallot, vinegar, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper go into a sauce pan with the remaining oil and bring it all to a boil.
4. Remove the prunes from the wine and pour the wine into the sauce pan.
5. Squash the saffron threads between two spoons.
6. Heat the stock and dissolve the saffron in it, then add it to all the other ingredients in the pan.
7. Stir well and cook for about 15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile cut the prunes into strips and scatter over the fish.
9. Taste and adjust the sauce's seasoning and pour it over the tuna steaks.
10. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, basting twice.
11. This is for four sensual people.

The recipe is a slight variation of Anna Del Conte's. The side dish for this sensual repast should be something very green. A good suggestion is fresh spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil. Besides the obvious oft repeated joke, chocolate is de rigueur for dessert.