If you like canned tuna or salmon, you’ll love these. If you’re not crazy about canned fish, we bet you’ll be saying “G’Day” to G’Day Gourmet. Shown: Tomato Basil, Tomato Salsa and Tomato Onion tunas. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE. WHAT IT IS: Single-serve seasoned canned tuna in six different flavors, wild Alaskan salmon in three flavors. WHY IT’S DIFFERENT: Gourmet flavors; the tuna is the skipjack species fished in pristine waters, and has very low levels of mercury. WHY WE LOVE IT: Low-calorie (it uses cholesterol- free canola oil to blend the seasonings), controlled portions with ready-to-eat convenience and exciting tastes. Plus, easy portability for work, school, desk drawers and stashing anywhere you need snacks. BUY IT AT: Whole Foods Markets and other fine food stores.

G’Day Gourmet: Singing A Different Tuna   CAPSULE REPORT: When was the first time someone got excited over the taste of tuna, straight from the can? In America, we’re willing to bet the answer is “very recently,” when G’Day Gourmet’s line of “Australian-style savory tuna” arrived. These wonders from Down Under are also user-friendly, in 3.5-ounce single-serve cans with convenient pull-tab tops. Had they not arrived on U.S. retail shelves, we would have had them shipped from Australia! Instead of mixing tuna with mayo, you enjoy them already seasoned, in Chili, Lemon Pepper, Mild Indian Curry, Tomato Basil, Tomato Salsa and Tomato Onion. There are three flavors of canned salmon as well. Happy news for dieters, four of the six tuna flavors are from 135 to 168 calories; the three salmons are from 99 to 145 calories. Single serve, loaded with Omega 3’s, portable and absolutely delicious—sorry Charlie, no other canned tuna (or salmon) stands a chance with us now. Available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide, with additional distribution in the works. NOTE: Do not confuse this wonderful product with Bumble Bee Sensations, a sad imitation of inferior taste and added sugar. Would you put sugar in your tuna? Read the full review below. For reviews of more of our favorite seafood products, click here. For the table of contents of the August issue of THE NIBBLE online magazine, plus the back issues archive and our most popular articles, click here. All of the Top Pick Of The Week newsletters are permanently archived on TheNibble.com, in chronological order and by product category.

Perfect For Lunch

The Well-Dressed Salad, by Jennifer Joyce. If you view salads beyond a few greens on the side, this book will expand your horizons even more. With stylish, healthy recipes that explore textures and flavors from around the world, you’ll make exciting vegetable, noodle, rice, meat, fish and poultry salads that promise to please as both sides and mains for lunch and dinner. Click here for more information or to purchase.	Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini: Sandwiches, Italian Style, by Viana La Place. A fun, inventive and mouth-watering collection of sandwiches. Recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks and hors d’oeuvres, including both simple and elegant bruschetta and crostini, the Italian open-faced toasts and canapés. There are sweet versions too2. Click here for more information or to purchase. Check below for our favorite panini press.	Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book: The Best Sandwiches Ever—from Thursday Nights at Campanile, by Nancy Silverton and Teri Gelber. If you can’t get to L.A. to eat the sandwiches at Campanile, you can make them at home. Sophisticated and unusual ideas include the Fried Oyster Sandwich; Ham, Creamed Spinach and Stewed Leeks; plus “sweet sandwiches” made of cake and filling. Click here for more information or to purchase.

Singing A Different Tuna: G’Day Gourmet Seasoned Canned
Tuna & Salmon

There are several species of tuna, five of which comprise the world’s significant commercial crop. Four names are likely familiar: albacore, bigeye, bluefin and yellowfin*. The fifth, skipjack, may be less of a household name, although it’s the largest source of canned tuna in the world and is in most of the cans labeled “light” tuna.

*YELLOWTAIL is a member of the jack family (Carangidae). The Japanese yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata) is a small fish that, at 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) is called hamachi in Japan and at 5 kilograms (11 pounds) is called buri. TUNA is a member of the mackerel family (Scombridae). Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is commonly 80 pounds and occasionally reaches 200 pounds.

Skipjack is found in all the tropical and subtropical waters of the world, except for the eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas. It is much smaller than the other four species—generally just 6 to 8 pounds. Environmentally-focused consumers will like knowing that dolphins do not swim together with such small fish, as they do with the larger tuna, which makes skipjack a virtually guaranteed dolphin-safe species. The G’Day Gourmet skipjack, 1-1/2 to 2-year-old fish caught in the more pristine waters of the Indian Ocean, have very low mercury levels due to both the cleaner waters and the young age of the fish (larger, older fish have been in the water longer and have absorbed more pollutants).

The meat isn’t pinkish “white meat” like albacore, but darker meat “light tuna.” While white albacore is generally perceived as the “better” canned tuna, to our palate, a quality light tuna, like the Italian tunas that are often sold in supermarkets and specialty food stores, is much more flavorful. G’Day Gourmet seconds the point. We flipped for the taste of these all-natural tunas and their canned salmon cousins. That’s the good news; there’s a bit of a down side for some people. The tuna seasonings have some wheat in them (except for one flavor, Tomato Salsa), which will deter people on wheat-free diets. There’s also a smidgen of cane sugar (except for Chili). The salmons, however, are totally wheat- and sugar-free. And while the calories are fairly low for both tuna and salmon, there’s fat from the canola oil that’s used to dress the fish (essentially, the fish are lightly marinated in seasoned oil).

So this is a low-carb food, but not a low-fat one like tuna packed in water. But then, tuna packed in water is something many of us buy to avoid the calories (or the mediocre oil quality) of oil-packed tunas; then we spend time putting flavor into the dish. The G’Day Gourmet folks have already triumphed on those fronts. We just have to pull the ring tab and enjoy.
 

Continue To Page 2: Flavors Of Seasoned Tuna

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ABOUT THE NIBBLE. THE NIBBLE™, Great Food Finds™, is an online magazine about specialty foods and the gourmet life. It is the only consumer publication and website that focuses on reviewing the best specialty foods and beverages, in every category. The magazine also covers tabletop items, gourmet housewares, and other areas of interest to people who love fine food.

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