Vitel Tone — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Thinly sliced cold poached veal blanketed in a creamy tuna and anchovy sauce, garnished with capers. The quintessential Argentine Christmas dish inherited from Italian tradition.

Ingredients

1kg veal eye of round, in one piece
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 bay leaf
1 can tuna in oil (170g), drained
3 anchovy fillets
2 tablespoons capers plus extra for garnish
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and white pepper to taste

Instructions

1 Place the veal in a large pot with the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for seventy to ninety minutes until the veal is tender. Let it cool in the broth.
2 While the veal cools, prepare the sauce. In a blender, combine the drained tuna, anchovy fillets, two tablespoons capers, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and a few tablespoons of the veal cooking broth. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3 Remove the cooled veal from the broth and slice it very thinly, about three millimeters thick, using a sharp carving knife.
4 Arrange the veal slices on a serving platter, overlapping slightly. Spoon the tuna sauce generously over the slices, ensuring complete coverage.
5 Garnish with whole capers scattered over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight. Serve cold.

Did You Know?

No Argentine Christmas Eve table is complete without vitel tone. Families often prepare it one or two days in advance, as the sauce improves when it has time to meld with the chilled veal slices.