Tuna casserole is, likely, the ultimate in American food. It's not hamburgers, no, it's not
meatloaf, and it's definitely not apple pie. The French invented apple pie, after all, and the Viennese probably
developed the precursor to meatloaf. They eat hamburgers everywhere.
But tuna, mixed with noodles, cheese and one of a variety of canned or frozen vegetables: that's got to be America's very own. Tuna casserole is to America what cassoulet is to the French: every homey cook has her own recipe, one of endless variations on a common theme (a blueprint, if you will).
Every tuna casserole has one thing in common: tuna. Let's say, for the sake of argument, two cans of the stuff - that's 12 ounces, or 1 1/2 cups, or about 350g. And let's say every casserole is cooked in a three-quart casserole dish, in a 400F oven for 25 minutes. For most of these recipes, you can basically follow my aforementioned tuna casserole blueprint; I'll point out differences in procedure along the way.




