It seems wholly unbelievable that the delicious, nutritious and frequently super-high end fish known as the Tuna was once so obscure to Americans that the company who first introduced a canned, chopped version of it for sandwich use–Van Kamp was their name–thought it best to explain to consumers that it was somehow like an animal they’d heard of, in this case the ever-popular chicken. ‘Chicken Of The Sea’ was the canned tuna of my youth and I hated it. Part of this was because I thought it was supposed to taste like chicken since, well, that’s what it said on the can. Later, after eating Ahi Tuna I realized it was because it simply wasn’t very good tuna. Apparently after being caught, Tuna is quickly separated into several categories, with the deep red luxury stuff going to the suppliers of high-end restaurants and stores, a middle-grade going to lesser chain supermarkets, and the least appealing pale grey stuff being shipped off to the land of canned food.

If you look at old restaurant menus–I went through a phase of collecting them on e-bay–you’ll notice that the seafood choices of the past were limited largely to Lobster, Filet of Sole, the occasional ‘Salmon Terrine’, and various unappetizing Clam and Oyster concoctions. No Swordfish, Halibut, Tilapia or Red Snapper need apply! Food tastes have grown so much more sophisticated in the past forty years that one forgets that other now staple dishes were once far too exotic for most restaurants to offer. Chief among these were Pasta and its accompanying sauces. Spaghettie and meatballs was the order of the day, with the occasional Fettuccini Alfredo making a cameo appearance. Pesto, Voglio, Arbiata–all were largely kept a safe, ocean distance away from high-end American restaurants. Above and below I’ve posted two ‘Chicken of the Sea’ commercials–one is vastly better than the other for reasons that will become apparent when you see the model spokesperson they hired to shill their third-rate though highly succccsul canned product. Also, do you remember when Tuna was always called ‘Tuna Fish’ as in “I’ll have a Tuna-fish sandwich’ and the ‘Tuna Salad‘ name had yet to enter the lexicon? You don’t? Then you’re under the age of fifty…