Ventresca
Tuna belly: the fattiest, most marbled cut. Sold canned in olive oil (ventresca de bonito) or served fresh as sashimi, tartare or quickly seared.
Ventresca is the belly cut of a tuna — the streak of marbled, fattier flesh running along the underside of the fish. It's the most prized part of the animal, the equivalent of the otoro on a Japanese tuna. In Spain the term covers two distinct products. The first is canned ventresca de bonito (bonito del norte, a smaller Atlantic tuna), packed in olive oil and eaten by the flake on bread, with white beans, or in a salad; the high-end tinned versions from Cantabria are some of the most expensive canned fish in Spain. The second is fresh ventresca de atún rojo (bluefin), served raw as sashimi, lightly seared, or grilled briefly over coals. Both versions cost serious money.
How it's served
Canned: by the flake, room temperature, on toasted bread with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Fresh: sliced sashimi-thin and served raw, or seared rare on a hot plancha and finished with sea salt. Either way, minimal accompaniment; the fish carries the dish.
Regional variation
The Cantabrian canned ventresca de bonito is the most internationally famous version, with brands like Olasagasti and Ortiz known to Spanish home cooks. Mediterranean fresh ventresca de atún rojo (from the bluefin almadraba tuna trap in Cádiz) is the high-end restaurant version. Both belong to the same logic: the belly cut is always the prize.
- Origin
- Mediterranean and Atlantic Spain
- Etymology
- From the Catalan/Spanish ventre ('belly').
Frequently asked
What is ventresca?
The belly cut of a tuna, fattier and more marbled than the rest of the fish. Sold canned in olive oil (ventresca de bonito, a smaller Atlantic tuna) or served fresh as sashimi or seared (ventresca de atún rojo, bluefin). The most prized part of the animal in both formats.
Is ventresca the same as toro?
Functionally similar, technically different. Toro and otoro are the Japanese terms for bluefin tuna belly, used in sushi. Ventresca is the Spanish/Catalan term for the same anatomical cut. Both refer to the fatty underside of the tuna; both are the most prized part.
Why is canned ventresca so expensive?
Bonito del norte (the small Cantabrian tuna used for top ventresca) is line-caught in the Bay of Biscay during a brief summer season. The belly is a small cut on a small fish. Hand-packing in olive oil and aging in the tin for at least a year adds further cost. Top-end tins run €15-35.
Related terms
- FinoDry, pale, bone-dry sherry aged under a protective layer of yeast called flor. The lightest end of the sherry family.
- A la planchaCooked on a flat-top metal griddle. Fast, hot, no oil pooling. Standard for prawns, fish fillets and squid.
- Ensaladilla rusa'Russian salad': diced potato, carrot, peas, tuna and hard-boiled egg, bound with a generous slick of mayonnaise. The default Spanish tapas-bar salad.