Here we look at what ventresca is, how Los Peperetes prepares its decadent ventresca in Jersey butter, and more about the Galician cannery and its unique tins.
In this article...
What is ventresca?
Ventresca or tuna belly is the silken-textured undercut of the tuna. It naturally forms into thin sheets. It’s the part of the fish’s body that it doesn’t use when swimming, which is why it is fatty and the most flavoursome part of the fish; It’s a relatively small cut of the fish, which is also what makes it a more premium cut. This tuna is a special type of albacore or white tuna. It also takes the name Bonito del Norte. This is the name given to albacore caught at the right time (June to September) in the right place (a costera or close to the coast of the Cantabrian Sea). This is the moment it is at its physical peak on its migratory path.
Image from The Tinned Fish Market
All about Los Peperetes’ ventresca in Jersey butter.
Ventresca is renowned for its buttery texture, and Galician cannery Los Peperetes has leaned into this and paired it with hand-churned, artisanal butter that’s so thick and creamy it recommends running the tin under the hot tap to melt the butter before opening it. From there, drizzle it over toast, before topping with slices of ripe tomato and the slabs of ventresca. The tin itself is also a feast of graphic design - a round tin with bougie gold leaf lettering detailing the provenance of the Jersey butter: Airas Moniz artisanal cheese dairy in nearby Lugo. The butter is made from the golden-hued milk from the dairy’s herd of Jersey cows – using locally-sourced products in its tins has been one of Los Peperetes’ signatures since it was founded in 1990. Enjoy it from the tin like Marcus at Tinned Fish Reviews , go epic like Maddi aka Crip and Dip , or try it on toast like Tomé at The Telegraph .
The story of Los Peperetes’ cannery.
Los Peperetes is a Galician word meaning delicious, covetable and unusual delicacies, a neat summation of what the Pontevedra cannery does. The most covetable? The Galician cannery’s tuna belly in Jersey butter… that we opened a waiting list for. The most unusual? The percebes or gooseneck barnacles. Los Peperetes was founded in the fishing village of Carril - where Carril clams hail from - in 1990 by Jesus Lorenzo Crespo, the grandson of the first Galician canners. He began by canning the finest cockles and sardines he could find, producing only 30 tins a day and sealing each one with a manual seamer. Los Peperetes can now be found in more than 30 countries, and the founding principles remain the same: the best fresh fish and seafood is sourced from nearby fish markets and prepared to the highest standards by artisans at the cannery. The fish and shellfish is then complemented with family recipes comprised of quality ingredients. Another signature of the cannery is using locally-sourced ingredients. PDO-labelled Galician mussels, white tuna belly from the Cantabrian Sea in Jersey butter from artisanal dairy Airas Moniz in nearby Lugo, sea bass complemented with a celebrated Albariño wine from the Pazo de Rubianes vineyards that overlook the river Arousa’s estuary.
Image from Los Peperetes
Los Peperetes’ unique tins.
Goose barnacles
Goose barnacles - percebes in Spanish - are a prized Galician delicacy. Difficult to harvest, they grow on rocks where waves crash, and have a sweet taste like razor clams. Los Peperetes recommends eating them from the tin as they are in order to appreciate the full marine flavour. Eat the fleshy peduncle or stalk beneath the shell - Los Peperetes removes the skin to make this easier. Eating the meat inside the shell is an option too. However, the cannery doesn't recommend this as it's not the traditional Galician way.
Snow crab
Snow crab is one of the most highly-valued delicacies from the sea. Native to the cold, clear waters of Greenland, Los Peperetes harvest the crab sustainably each January and carefully prepare it by hand in its Galician cannery. The snow crab is preserved in the water it is cooked in to retain its light and fresh flavour.
Sea urchin roe
Sea urchin roe has a creamy texture and a fresh marine flavour, like sea air in the morning. Harvested seasonally by divers in the rocky areas of the estuaries in Galicia, this is one of the sea's most sought-after delicacies.
Oysters
Oysters in a homemade pickled sauce. The oysters that Los Peperetes cans are curly oysters, grown sustainably in baskets that hang from rafts in the estuaries.
Goose barnacles
Boneless sardines
Mussels
Cockles
Cockles sourced in the Galician Rías and hand-prepared by the artisans at nearby Los Peperetes cannery. The cockles are submerged in seawater and soaked for 12-20 hours when they arrive at the cannery from the morning fish markets, so that they are free from any sand. They are then steamed and shelled before the finest cockles are chosen to be canned in a family recipe salsa of olive oil, garlic and hot pepper.Cockles sourced in the Galician Rías and hand-prepared by the artisans at nearby Los Peperetes cannery. The cockles are submerged in seawater and soaked for 12-20 hours when they arrive at the cannery from the morning fish markets, so that they are free from any sand. They are then steamed and shelled before the finest cockles are chosen to be canned in a family recipe salsa of olive oil, garlic and hot pepper.
Octopus
Octopus in a garlic sauce with spicy guindilla pepper carefully prepared by hand in Los Peperetes Galician cannery.
Razor clams
Razor clams in a family-recipe sauce of olive oil, garlic and chilli. The razor clams are hand-gathered by divers near Finisterre on Galicia's rugged coastline the Costa da Morte.
White crab meat
White crab meat - this sweet and delicate meat is painstakingly prepared by Los Peperetes in Galicia. After the locally-sourced brown crab is cooked, its white meat is removed from the shell and carefully prepared by hand before being packed in brine.