"Tuna Melt" by Senator Mark Warner
Aside from Amy Klobuchar’s NY Times-featured Hot Dish, this may be the most famous dish I’ve had the pleasure of recreating — and all it took was some American cheese, a little mayo, and the wettest tuna I’ve ever seen.
As seen on Roll Call, Thrillist, CNN and beyond — Senator Mark Warner’s Tuna Melt.
Chef Mark Warner
Democratic Senator from Virginia
As always, I followed the recipe action for action from the infamous amateur chef, no alterations:
INGREDIENTS
2 slices of bread
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 can of tuna, undrained
2 slices of mild cheddar cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Spray the mayonnaise evenly, straight from the bottle. Approximately 1/4 cup on each slice.
Spraying (or misting) mayonnaise is the preferred method, but spreading can work too if your bottle type is inferior.
2) Place undrained tuna on one slice of mayonnaised bread.
Do not drain your tuna. You want your bottom-bread sopping-wet.
“I can’t get my family to eat this anymore.”
—Mark Warner
3) Place both slices of cheese on other slice of bread.
4) Sandwich together, and microwave for 30 seconds or until cheese is melted.
My microwave isn’t nearly as powerful as Chef Mark Warner’s, so it actually took about a minute and five seconds to perfectly melt the cheese. But the results….completely worth the extra 35 seconds.
You may have tasted other tuna melts in your past, but they had the “extra” elements of fire, butter, spices and time — Chef Mark’s creation keeps it simple. The bottom piece of bread is soaked, but not just with fish juice — it’s a layered flavor-packed combo of tuna water, cheese drip and liquified mayo. If you’re a fan of mayonnaise, I can’t imagine there’s a better dish on earth for your lunch. Plus, it all comes together in less than 2 minutes. Every step one might take to make a classic tuna melt is skipped here — no draining of the canned fish, no toasting of the bread, no mixing of the goo. Nothing classic about this. Mark Warner is ahead of his time.
Verdict:
It’s really wet. It’s too wet. It melted outside of my mouth. And I could not finish more than one oozing bite.
