The difference between tuna and chicken.

This week was a bit unusual in the lunch department because I made tuna salad sandwiches one day, and chicken salad sandwiches another day.   (Unusual because we don't do a lot of non-pb&j lunch sandwiches in general.)  And this alignment of the sandwich stars, because of the juxtaposition, got me thinking about flavor repertoires.

I mean, the staple around which the two are based -- not very different.  Both water-packed tuna and skinless cooked chicken white meat are high in protein and quite low in fat.  Both tend to be a little dry and not terribly flavorful, though tuna performs a little better than chicken there (and does anyone else think that canned chicken tastes a little bit like canned tuna?).  Both come from cans (although I had a poached chicken breast to work with yesterday) and so are suitable in pantry-backup-type meals that can be whipped up on short notice.

Possibly as a result of these similarities, the (tuna OR chicken)-salad sandwiches that I tend to make have a lot in common.  I make them from items I almost always have on hand, which yields a nice synergy with (tuna OR chicken)'s pantry-backup capabilities.  Both recipes contain mayonnaise, which takes care of the leanness and dryness, carrying flavors and improving the mouthfeel -- generally making the culinary experience much more satisfying.  And both recipes contain minced celery, with its subtle, fresh bite and pleasing crunch that can yield to the mushy chewiness of chicken or tuna.

But my tuna salad and my chicken salad taste completely different from each other.  Besides the tuna or chicken, the mayonnaise, and the celery, and besides salt and pepper, my salads always contain the following:

TUNA SALAD

• minced onion
• chopped hard-boiled egg
• chopped dill pickles or pickle relish -- lots of it

CHICKEN SALAD

• raisins
• chopped apple
• curry powder

And you know what, I never ever ever swap them.  I never make curry-raisin-apple tuna salad.  I never make egg-onion-pickle chicken salad.  

I can't think of any reason why chicken wouldn't work with the onion-egg-pickle trinity.  I can't think of any reason why tuna wouldn't work with raisins-apple-curry.  And yet, in my imagination, it is not even worth trying.

Comments

[Jamie]

Oh, I love tuna with apple (and green onion)! And tuna with curry! And tuna with garbanzos! And tuna with white beans and finely sliced onions (subbing olive oil for mayo)!

I don't think chicken would work with dill anything because I think dill is Of The Devil, but that's just me. :-)

[MelanieB]

I've been playing around with tuna salads quite a bit in the past year. Like you I always do mayonnaise and minced onion and celery. Though I usually use red onion if I have it. And I almost always throw in a bit of mustard. Pickle relish used to be my staple but recently I've started throwing in other pantry staples like roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, and olives. I tried a tuna salad with olives and orange slices on a bed of lettuce that was heavenly.

Hmmm... I bet artichoke hearts would be good too. I've usually got a few cans of those in the pantry.

[Erin]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks canned chicken tastes like canned tuna. It makes me wonder if appearance is that big of an influence on taste.

[BettyDuffy]

"I make them from items I almost always have on hand, which yields a nice synergy with (tuna OR chicken)'s pantry-backup capabilities. Both recipes contain mayonnaise, which takes care of the leanness and dryness, carrying flavors and improving the mouthfeel -- generally making the culinary experience much more satisfying."--those are some really fun sentences.

[bearing]

Betty Duffy, this is what comes of being a foodie-turned-engineer-turned-housewife, married to an engineer-turned--food-scientist. I write sentences like that completely unaware of how, er, fun they are.