Many will advise you to steer clear of the tuna at a Jewish deli, but there’s a reason almost every Jewish deli has tuna salad on their menu: American Jews love it.
A Brief History of Canned Tuna
In the United States, tuna became popular about a hundred years ago. Throughout the 19th century, tuna was not seen as a desirable fish and was primarily used to feed animals or as bait for fishing. Sardines were the most popular tinned fish. That changed in 1903 when the country experienced a sardine shortage due to extreme weather conditions and overfishing.
The owner of one of the largest sardine companies, Albert P. Halfill, decided to start canning Albacore tuna as a way to pivot his business. Tuna was abundantly available off the coast of Southern California, and he canned the fish by removing their natural oil and substituting it with vegetable oil. Hot steam was used to compress the fish, and both of these preparations aided in tinned tuna’s palatability. Halfill’s greater spark of genius was marketing the fish as “chicken of the sea.” Jessica Simpson was infamously mocked for thinking of tuna as chicken, but she was far from alone. This intentional comparison fundamentally aided the rise of tuna’s popularity in America. Tuna canners also started to publish recipes in magazines and newspapers, helping Americans learn to appreciate and use their product.
While Halfill deserves credit for popularizing canned tuna, Japanese immigrants were the first to identify Albacore off the coast of Los Angeles in 1901. The Japanese had been fishing for tuna since the 18th century and developed innovative fishing techniques. Despite their invaluable contributions to the rise of the tuna industry, Japanese immigrants were aggressively discriminated against then, and for decades after.
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What started as a way to mitigate the demand for overfished sardines resulted in global mass consumption and overfishing of tuna. The most sustainable tuna today are fished through poll-and-line trolling, to reduce catching dolphins and other marine life. Certain brands prioritize testing mercury levels, which is a growing concern for tuna and other fish products. As a result, there is now a higher demand for sardines once again.
Did Jews Popularize Tuna?
Initially, interest in canned tuna disproportionately came from the East Coast, and New York more specifically. While there’s little documentation on which demographics were buying tuna, given that we know that tuna’s popularity began in New York City, it is likely that many of the early tinned tuna customers were Jewish. The rise of tuna coincided with the rise of Jewish delis as central gathering places for Jews in the 1920s. As tuna became readily available and desirable, tuna salad became a part of Jewish deli offerings. After all, delis were already serving a similar salad made of whitefish.
Salads made of protein, mayo, and relish came well before tuna. They became a popular way of using up scraps of chicken, salmon, or whitefish. Smoked whitefish salad was especially popular in Ashkenazi communities. Jewish immigrants discovered that the whitefish of the Great Lakes was similar to the freshwater fish of Eastern Europe, and they began to make smoked whitefish a staple of their delis and appetizing shops. The popularity of deli whitefish salad paved the way for tuna salad.
Tuna’s kosher-status also helped with its popularity among Jews. In Tablet’s 100 Most Jewish Foods, Ester Werdiger writes: “You know, Chassidish people who aren’t so Chassidish anymore but they still order a ‘toonabygel!’” Most canned tuna is kosher, most jarred mayo is kosher, therefore it was often considered kosher-enough for many Jews when they would go out to eat at a non-Jewish restaurant or diner.
For Jews of all denominations, tuna salad sandwiches on bagels or rye bread became a popular meal option, and remain so to this day.
What is Jewish Deli Tuna Salad?
There are thousands of tuna salad recipes, but online searches frequently show “Jewish Deli Tuna Salad” as a primary subcategory. What makes tuna salads “deli?” Recipes differ, but all include mayo, most include relish, and many include dill, celery, and onion. What makes the tuna salad Jewish deli-style is more about how it’s served: it has to be served on rye bread or a bagel. Tuna melts are another popular deli item, but they didn’t appear until the 1960s, when Kraft was trying to promote their newly invented Velveta cheese.
For me, deli tuna salad has to have dill to be Jewish. When I ran my own Jewish deli, we made it with local tuna, mayo, dill relish (not sweet), celery, fresh dill, and parsley. We served it on locally made rye bread, on a bed of greens, or as a side to-go. Tuna salad was always one of our best sellers. When the deli closed due to the pandemic, many customers unexpectedly reached out about how they missed the tuna.
Do You Really Need a Recipe?
Tuna salad is as personal as matzah balls, but I’ve written a recipe for my ideal tuna salad sandwich. I need mine on rye, with a side of Tim’s Cascade jalapeño potato chips and a Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda. The tuna salad sandwich will forever be one of my top comfort foods.
The Best Tuna Salad Recipe
Tuna salad is as personal as matzah balls, but I’ve written a recipe for my ideal tuna salad sandwich.
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1-2 sandwiches
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 1 can tuna
- 3 Tbsp mayo (Best Foods/Hellman’s)
- 1 rib celery
- 1 Tbsp dill relish
- squeeze of fresh lemon juice
- fresh chopped dill, to taste
- fresh chopped parsley, to taste
- salt and pepper
To serve:
- caraway rye bread/Jewish Rye
- crisp lettuce leaves
- thinly sliced cucumber
Instructions
- Drain your tuna, transfer it to a bowl and mash it very finely with a fork. Add the mayo, celery, relish, lemon juice, dill, and parsley and mix until well incorporated. Taste and modify as desired, and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve on rye bread with lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber. An extra schmear of mayo on the bread is always welcome.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Quick
- Cuisine: Ashkenazi
Quite the way, I actually make it except for one addition. I include one hard boiled egg for each can of tuna – minced and mixed in with the tuna. My family loves this recipe.
Good idea. Thanks.
Pretty much the way I’ve been making my tuna salad recipe with one addition: I include one hard-boiled egg for each one can of tuna. Chop the hard boiled egg fine and mix it in with everything else. My family loves it this way.
That’s exactly how I make it, too.
Don’t forget sweet corn . It gives special taste!
Hard-boiled eggs are a great addition. I often mix half mayo wit half yogurt.Diced apples are a wonderful addition. I play around with the spices trying cinnamon, powdered curry, zatar, or Everything but the bagel.
I don’t like dill or rosemary I find it overwhelming. I do like a nice schmear of any relish besides dill and my guilty pleasure is a shpritz of Catalina dressing almost imperceptible except for the delightful onion note lots of finely diced celery on a lightly toasted buttered rye bread. I also learned a great trick from my Spanish friends who use a schmear of mustard that just makes it bright.
We aways have potatoe chips with our toona sandwich. Additionally dill relish is mandatory.
I love this recipe. I tweak the proportions of mayo and celery (more!) but the other ingredients absolutely elevate this dish and now I can’t have my tuna any other way. It’s been a revelation!
Re: the tuna melt. Velveeta is over 100 years old. It was a staple in my house when I was a kid n the 1950s. Kraft Singles are about 75 years old. Tuna melts may have been popularized in the 60s, but I doubt the purpose was to “introduce” Velveeta.
You’re right – I grew up in the 50s and Velveeta was certainly present by then.
I add diced carrots, chopped onions and chopped pickles and some juice instead of the relish, and always a bit of mustard. I serve it on rye bread or sliced challah with lettuce and sliced tomato. Yum!
What size tuna can are you using in your recipe?
love open face tuna melts. I toast rye bread slices lightly. spread some mayo, then add the tuna salad, sliced tomatoes and top it off with sliced swiss cheese. then slide under broiler in my toaster oven till cheese is melted,, yummy served with chips. BTW I use the Albacore tuna in water.. not oil. and I also do not add eggs.
gosh I have been doing it right—- you don’t need a receipe
Over here in England we do not have Jewish delis, and I had not heard of this dish. So yes, I am grateful for this recipe, although I do not know what dill relish is!
Agreed!
Loved it
Thanks for relating the history of the tun sandwich!
Thank you, I also love to add a hard boiled egg to my tuna salad 😋.
The recipe is delicious!! But– I don’t eat tuna very often because of the high Mercury level.. I eat red sockeye salmon for my fish salad!
You can buy safe catch tuna which checks every tuna for mercury
Love it.
Between the mayo & the tuna, there’s plenty of salt. No need to add any.
We like it with tiny morsels of celery and carrot, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Always on toasted rye with light mayo on the bread.
delete that q-cumber with a mashed in anchovy fillet. thx me later.
Always added a wedge of nicely diced kosher pickle. Either a half-sour Batampte, or a Grillos, depending on what’s in the fridge. The egg, as well. Hadn’t thought of fresh dill…will definitely give that a try! Enjoyed the article…
Perfect recipe! But please: he REPLACED the natural oil with vegetable oil or he SUBSTITUED veg oil for thenatural oil.
You are the first email I read.
I know this is sacrilegious, but you should substitute Duke’s mayonnaise for what has been the traditional choice. It is way better.
Raised in NJ and FL on Hellman’s, but when I lived in NC for a while back in the day, there was only Duke’s, and it was very good! Now living on the West Coast and Hellman’s is called Best Foods, so I’m back to “Hellman’s” which is a good thing bc Duke’s is regional.
I have been making my family’s tuna salad virtually this same exact way (for 45+ years!), EXCEPT that I swap the mayo for “Miracle Whip Salad Dressing”, as I have detested the taste of mayonnaise since childhood. Our tuna salad is DELICIOUS for enjoying on matzoh, hollowed-out sesame-seeded bagels, even on a quality white bread, spread first with scallion cream cheese, with potato chips on the side (or on top, like I first learned to do in my elementary school cafeteria DECADES ago!)….When we get down to the bottom of the bowl, this “leftover” tuna salad is GREAT as the basis for a tuna melt: lightly-grilled white bread is first spread with a bit of a slightly-spicy (from added paprika) homemade honey mustard; a “thinnish” layer of tuna salad is spread on top, and is covered with a “nice” layer of (shredded) cheddar cheese; then, this about-to-be devoured concoction is baked in our convection oven (at 365 degrees F) ’til the cheese is “moderately” browned. FANTASTICALLY DELICIOUS (and, coincidentally, I had this style of tuna melt for lunch today!). IF you try (or already make) this style of tuna melt…ENJOY!
Almost exactly one year after I left my above “comment”, I will add that adding some rather finely-diced onion to this tuna salad (“sweet” Vidalia onion-type-preferred, although “regular” yellow-onion is also good, if you prefer a little “kick”) ~ in an amount as much -or- as little as you prefer; we like a LOT!!! ~ adds that little “something-something” that really “speaks” to your taste-buds, and “declares”, “Now THIS is some DELICIOUS (Jewish deli-style!) tuna salad!”!!!…YES: ENJOY!!!
As I wrote yesterday, and almost exactly one year after I left my above “comment”, I will add that adding some rather finely-diced onion to this tuna salad (“sweet” Vidalia onion-type-preferred, although “regular” yellow-onion is also good, if you prefer a little “kick”) ~ in an amount as much -or- as little as you prefer; we like a LOT!!! ~ adds that little “something-something” that really “speaks” to your taste-buds, and “declares”, “Now THIS is some DELICIOUS (Jewish deli-style!) tuna salad!”!!!…YES: ENJOY!!!
We have a recipe that’s more MidWest ~
Best Foods/Hellman’s mayo
celery, bell pepper, green onion
Lemon, dash of dijon and celery seed
salt and pepper
I make this for Kiddush at the Shul and I get rave reviews for years now.
Nothing wrong with this basic recipe. I like to mix it up (forgive the pun) with a rotating variety of add-ins, including: chopped stuffed olives, grated carrot, minced spring onion, sweet pickle relish, dijon mustard, etc., etc. Sometimes sub in a bit of plain Greek yogurt for the mayo. Never gets old.
Growing up, I used to eat at my good friend’s house. The bread we had it on was Syrian bread she brought back from NY. We”d put potato chips inside it.
Today I make it with Dukes Mayo and put a slice of tomato, arugula and if I have on hand slices from a small cucumber. My seasonings are citrus pepper, sumac and Zatar. Not having access to fresh Pita here in FL. I put it on Deli Rye from Publix, which is eh!!! My daughter brings me excellent Rye from Breads Bakery in NYC.
I have always loved Tuna, My Mom made it for all of us. In the summer she made great salads. Tuna with hard boiled eggs was wonderful!
I like to add a chopped hard boiled egg.
Great essay, and the recipe looks good. But I’m a mayo person, and the best tuna salad has bits of tuna floating in an ocean of Hellman’s, sweet relish, a shake or two of celery salt, and some finely chopped celery in the mix.
My grandmother also included a finely diced apple.
I use Heinz Salad Cream instead of mayonnaise. I find mayonnaise is much too bland.
Forgive me, but I believe you mean tuna is sustainably caught with pole and line, not poll and line.
Minced red onion and celery, sometimes capers if I have them on hand, mayo or Miracle Whip, fresh dill on rye bread-and we put potato chips in the sandwich…
I make tuna with Hellmann’s real mayonnaise & some spicy brown or Dijon mustard fir extra flavor.
I add chopped heard boiled egg(s), carrots, onions and pickles with some of the juice (instead of relish) to mine, with some mustard mixed in with the mayo. I do not use parsley. I add sliced tomato to the sandwich, along with the lettuce and cucumber. Yum.
grated onion , mayo , sweet corn niblets, malt vinegar ,
I love this. Growing up my mother (of blessed memory) made tuna with dill seed (not weed), minced white onion, and a squeeze of fresh lemon, along with the mayo and celery. We didn’t have relish. It was always served on her homemade oatmeal bread, and the tuna melt version was definitely open faced with sharp cheddar. Sorry for the drool on the post.
Tuna is my favorite food. I add mayo celery red onion and I do agree with you on that he seed d rye bread. Thanks for the most informative article.
My Jewish mom makes it the same way, as do I, except dried dill instead of fresh, and add black pepper. I also sometimes add chopped onion or put slices on the sandwich, and I like a pickled pepper on the side (jalapeno or pepperoncini). Salt and vinegar potato chips are the perfect accompaniment.
I make vegetarian tuna salad…also eat a low sodium diet. My base, instead of tuna, is avocados and chickpeas which I combine in the food processor. I add the rest of the ingredients after. Although I use most of the ingredients listed in the article, I knew it could taste much better so thank you for this article and the comments. Immediately I see I am missing the taste of relish which I will add to my next batch. As soon as I read the word ” relish”, my mouth began to water and an image of the Jewish candy store, near my elementary school, appeared. Lots of wonderful memories…Phil’s Candy Store. Try the avocado and chickpea base…you might like it.