Fresh Tuna with Green Olives, Capers, Celery, and Mint

A. few years ago, on a visit to Sicily, I was invited for dinner at the home of Giuseppe and Julia di’Martino, who moved to the island forty years ago. After we finished a series of pastas, platters of local dishes were brought out, among them the Siracusan specialty, stimperata, a beautifully cooked slab of tuna smothered in a sweet-and-sour blend of capers, olives, mint, celery, sugar, and vinegar.

The word stimperata derives from the Latin temperare, meaning