About the cannery
Santa Catarina cannery is located in the Azores, on the volcanic island of São Jorge, in the town of Calheta, by the sea in the Fajã Grande area of the town. Calheta has a long canning history dating back to the 1940s, and Santa Catarina keeps the traditions alive, working with its tuna fresh and cooking, preparing and canning it by hand. Santa Catarina is the largest private employer on São Jorge island.
The tuna is caught salt e vara - Portuguese for "pole vault" and the term used for pole-and-line. This sustainable form of fishing avoids by-catch, seabed damage and prevents stress and damage to the tuna as can happen when it is netted. This has earned the cannery certification for being Dolphin Safe and Friend of the Seas.
Santa Catarina works with skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), a smaller tuna found in tropical and warmer waters. It is an abundant species of tuna, and for this reason is a sustainable choice. It is fished in the clear waters of the Azores. The absence of pollutants in the sea means that the fish has a clean, clear taste. The ingredients that complement the tuna - parsley, Azorean pepper, chilli - are sourced from the Fãjas of São Jorge: flat, fertile lands at the foot of the coastal cliffs created by landslides or lava flows.
Skipjack tuna has a juicy texture and pinkish hue, and a stronger flavour than Bonito del Norte (white tuna/albacore). The tins we stock are part of Santa Catarina’s gourmet line, recipes taste-tested on São Jorge and given an enthusiastic green light by the islanders. Out of around 50 recipes, only 13 made the grade. Its tuna fillets in Mediterranean sauce is a bestseller at The Tinned Fish Market. The sauce is molho cru, a chimichurri-like sauce that accompanies fish in Portugal.
Serving tips
•Mediterranean pasta sauce. The tuna in Mediterranean sauce (molho cru) is great added to a simple tomato, onion and garlic pasta sauce. The molho cru enriches the sauce, and the meaty fillets take on the sauce’s flavours.
•Tuna ensaladilla. Make an ensaladilla or russian salad: peel and dice two potatoes and a carrot and boil in salted water for 5 to 6 minutes until tender. Chop two boiled eggs. Mix eggs, potato, carrot and diced green olives with two tablespoons of mayonnaise and two teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain the tuna fillets in extra virgin olive oil and mix with the ensaladilla.
•Add the tuna fillets with fennel seeds to a vegetable tray bake and drizzle over the olive oil.
