Evolution of a tiradito

The first dish Ricardo Zarate learned to cook, when he was 10, was octopus tiradito, a type of ceviche, from his friend’s mother. “She told me I needed to buy wasabi, and I said, what’s wasabi? She told me you can get it at Mercado Surquillo, go downstairs, third stall to the right. I went there and bought the wasabi and I didn’t know it was Japanese, I just thought it was a mustard. And I used it to make my tiradito. I really loved it.”

Decades later, he is still making the dish, with his own twists. The wasabi is gone, and the traditional lime is replaced with Japanese yuzu.

TRADITO DE PULPO AL OLIVO (OCTOPUS WITH OLIVES)

From “The Fire of Peru: Recipes and Stories from My Peruvian Kitchen” by Ricardo Zarate (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015)

• 3 to 4 ounces octopus tentacles, thawed if frozen
• 1/4 cup ponzu sauce
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons Aceituna Botija Sauce (recipe follows)
• 1 small heirloom tomato, cut in wedges
• 4 to 6 thin cucumber slices, quartered
• Handful arugula
• Olive tapenade (optional, for garnish)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Blanch octopus in pot of simmering salted water, 30 to 45 minutes, until tender. Drain; arrange on baking sheet and place in oven 5 minutes to dry completely.

Cool; slice diagonally into 8 pieces, 1/4 inch thick.

Combine ponzu and olive oil; spoon into bottom of a serving plate. Arrange octopus slices over sauce. Drizzle with botija sauce. Garnish with dots of tapenade, if using. Serves 2.

ACEITUNA BOTIJA SAUCE

• 4 ounces botija olives, pitted (or other cured black olives)
• 1 ounce aji amarillo puree (or other chili paste)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons pureed garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1 ounce extra virgin olive oil

Mix all ingredients except olive oil in blender. Pour into bowl. Whisk in olive oil gradually.

Nutritional information unavailable.