Bay CrossingsCuisine
ThirstyBear Spanish Seared Ahi
By
Mary Swift-Swan
Welcome back Chef Trish! After a Herculean
and absorbing effort opening a restaurant in Cupertino, Chef
Trish Traceyhas returned to San Francisco. Chef Trish was
lured back to the City to join the trendy and fun
ThirstyBear Brewery and Restaurant, where she has created a
new version of her Seared Ahi dish characterized by its
robust Spanish flavors. Seared Ahi may be a quick and simple
dish to create, but the way Chef Trish makes it has made it
her signature dish and a special favorite of this Bay
Crossings editor. We extend a special thanks to Chef Trish
and the supportive management of ThirstyBear Brewery and
Restaurant for sharing the recipe with our home cooks and
interested readers.
ThirstyBear
Brewery and Restaurant is housed in a beautifully decorated
large, two-story brick warehouse just around the corner from
the Moscone Center, near the Yerba Buena Center for the
Performing Arts. The basement holds the operation end of the
brewing equipment, the main level is the restaurant and bar,
and the upstairs has three areas for banquet and private
functions that collectively hold up to 300 guests.
The idea of brewing fresh, hand-crafted
beers to be paired with authentic Spanish cuisine was the
brainchild of Ron Silberstein, an attorney turned brewmaster,
and restaurant partner Ragnhild, a.k.a. Raggi, Lorentzen, a
Norwegian-Brazilian whose specialty is marketing. Each
aspired to open a restaurant one day. In December 1994, they
combined forces to create this very special restaurant and
microbrewery. Ron and Raggi’s efforts came to fruition with
their first foamy and smooth pint of beer, poured in
September 1996. Now, ThirstyBear Brewing Company brews nine
distinctive hand-crafted beers that are rich and refreshing
on a summer’s day or evening. ThirstyBear’s full bar also
offers an extensive selection of single-malt scotches, a
variety of exceptional Spanish brandies, and other fine
liquors. On Sundays, ThirstyBear features “The Flamenco
Room.” Two beautiful and spirited Flamenco shows, at 7:15pm
and 8:30pm, captivate the audience while they enjoy Spanish
tapas (small plates), dinner, and tasty refreshments.
ThirstyBear Brewery and Restaurant is located at 661 Howard
Street (415) 974-0905.
ThirstyBear Spanish Seared Ahi (Serves 4)
Cook 1 minute per serving, rest all four pieces of Ahi for 5
minutes.
Total preparation time is one-half hour if sauces are
prepared ahead.
1 lb
Ahi, fresh high grade, ¼ lb pp
¼ C Paprika
4 Tbl Sesame Seeds
Pinch Salt and Pepper – for top
and bottom for each piece
4 Tbl Olive Oil, approx. 1 T per serving
1 C Cilantro Crema (See
below)
1 C Pequillo Coulis (See
below) |
Cut
Ahi into individual serving pieces. Sprinkle the portioned
Ahi with salt, then fresh cracked pepper. Mix the Paprika
with the sesame seeds. Pour the mixture onto a flat dish.
Crust the Ahi in the paprika and sesame seed mixture. Press
to ensure good coverage all the way around, plus on top and
bottom.
In
a frying pan, heat a tablespoon of extra virgin olive
oil.
In a very hot pan, sear the crusted Ahi for 10-12 seconds on
each edge until all edges, sides, top, and bottom are
seared. Place on a plate to rest while preparing the balance
of the meal.
Chef Trish uses a slaw that originated at
Pat Benson’s backyard BBQ to complement the Seared Ahi. She
uses toasted cumin and lime juice to the dressing to give
the slaw a bright and slightly tart flavor.
Spanish
Slaw
2 C Green Cabbage, shredded
2 C Red Cabbage, shredded
4 Tbl Cilantro, minced
¼ C Mixed toasted Cumin,
toasted Pumpkin
and Sesame Seeds
1 C Tortilla shreds, fried
½ C Lime juice fresh squeezed
4 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil |
To prepare the slaw, mix the two colors of
fresh raw cabbage. Next add the minced cilantro, lime juice,
and oil; sprinkle in the seeds last. Season with salt and
pepper. Top the salad with the fried tortilla shreds.
Use
your imagination when placing the Seared Ahi, making a
lacework of the two sauces. The Cilantro Crema and Pequillo
Coulis combine for striking color contrasts, offering
wonderfully
different
yet complementary flavors for the Seared Ahi. The Cilantro
Crema is smooth and rich to the palate, while the Pequillo
Coulis leaves a slight after-burn from the mildly spicy
peppers. Pequillo are different from peppers from Latin
America. There is far less heat yet a great deal of flavor.
![](SliceRestedAhi.JPG)
When everything is ready, slice the
individual pieces of rested Ahi approximately ¼ inch thick.
Turn the top crusted piece around so it shows the beautiful
rare Ahi. With the flat side of a wide knife or a spatula,
lift all the pieces at the same time to set partly against
the Spanish flavored slaw and partly on the sauces.
Cilantro
Crema
2 C Sour Cream
2 oz. Lime Juice
½ C Half and Half
1 ½ Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Pepper
½ bu Cilantro Chopped fine
Mix together all ingredients
with a whisk.
Pequillo Coulis
4 C Pequillos, drained
2 oz. Lemon Juice
1 oz Vinegar
1½ C Blended Oil
1 ½ TspSalt
1 Tsp Black Pepper
Put all ingredients except the oil in the
blender. Slowly drizzle the oil into the top. |
Chef Trish Tracey began cooking at home in New Jersey
when in intermediate school because she has always liked to
eat. “After school, I would make spaghetti or bring out a
cookbook to make something, unlike my brother’s penchant to
wolf down snack cakes like Twinkies. I used to think my
mother was a good cook. She is now, but then she
concentrated on putting balanced meals on the table for six
kids instead of culinary art. Later, I realized it was a lot
of Shake’n’Bake and recipes off of soup cans and frozen
vegetables but it tasted good and she hit all the food
groups. It was the ’80s.”
At the start of her junior year of high
school, a friend who had already made her decision,
suggested culinary school. Chef Trish decided that if she
was going to go to school for a specific career, she should
try it first. At 17, she got a job as a cook in a restaurant
where one of her brothers worked. One of her treasured
pictures is in that kitchen with her brother’s arm around
her and her left hand on his shoulder showing band-aids on
all four knuckles. She had to learn to use a knife and
peeler quickly. She liked it and chose to go to culinary
school. It was a thrill for her mom because Trish was the
first of the six kids to head to college with the intention
of finishing. “In college, I was like a kid in a candy shop.
I’d hated high school because it was frustrating and boring.
In college, the classes were only 6-12 days long. You
learned a lot in each one. From intermediate school on I had
steadily gone down from being an A student, slipping more
each year, all through high school. In college, I was an A
student because I loved it.” Trish graduated from Johnson
Whales University in Providence, Rhode Island, with a
Bachelors in Restaurant Service Management, still hoping to
own her own restaurant one day.
After college, she cooked in fine
restaurants near her home for three years before coming to
the West Coast. San Francisco, unlike New York, was a city
she felt she could live in, with no commuting. Executive
chefs often work long, hard days. Adding a commute makes the
work exhausting. “I had ‘itchy feet.’ I told my Mom to
expect me back in a couple of years. That was 12 years ago.
I just love it here. San Francisco is one of the great
cities in the U.S. for chefs. There are awesome
opportunities. I fell in with a great company when I first
moved out here. I learned a ton from them, the Real
Restaurant Group. I worked with them for five years. The
first restaurant was Roti. It was then located adjacent to
the Griffon Hotel on the Embarcadero near the Ferry
Building. It has since changed to a new style and name.”
“I
defined my style as a chef while working there. As every
good chef will tell you, use only the freshest ingredients,
and stay with local seasonal items if possible. I lean
toward simple ingredients. The salad with the Ahi dish has
three key ingredients. Without manipulating things too much,
I like big bold flavors with good contrast in color,
texture, and taste.” While at Roti, she invented a recipe
for sesame-crusted Seared Ahi. She had to pass the dish by
ten reviewers who were dubious about it but she believed in
it so strongly that they let her offer it to the customers.
It was a hit that has followed her like a hit song follows a
singer. Later she opened MoMo’s, across from SBC Park. At
the request of her followers, Chef Trish again served Seared
Ahi with MoMo’s variations.
“After accepting this position, but
before I’d actually started, the manager called me. ‘Trish,
I need an Ahi dish right away.’ I thought it through,
wanting to create one that would feature bold Spanish
flavors. I made it up on the spot. After I got here, I
turned it into what it is now. Big flavors is what typifies
my style. This has it.” The hits keep rolling as Chef Trish
continues to create new dishes for ThirstyBear.