Reimagining Naples’ Famous Beef Ragù with Tuna

Genovese di Tonno at Flora. Photo by Daniel Schwartz.

If there’s one dish from the Campanian tradition that truly represents a regional culinary culture, it’s the Genovese.

Genovese means “from Genoa,” in the northern region of Liguria, so what on earth does it have to do with the culinary traditions of Campania?

It’s believed the dish originated in the 15th century, during the time of Italy’s great seafaring republics. Genoese sailors frequented the port areas from Naples and the Amalfi Coast down to Cilento. A humble dish was prepared to feed the sailors, made with meat and plenty of onions.

That’s where the name Genovese comes from, later refined by Neapolitan and Amalfi Coast chefs, who used the locally-renowned Gragnano pasta.

Along the Amalfi Coast, meat was a luxury reserved for wealthy families. Since fishing was the primary livelihood for the locals, the dish underwent an inevitable transformation, replacing meat with pieces of bluefish, which was then considered a “poor man’s fish.” This gave birth to the Genovese di Tonno.

We asked owner Emiliano Cammardella to share more about this interesting dish.

Genovese di Tonno at Flora. Photo by Daniel Schwartz.

Did you grow up eating a similar dish?

“It’s not very common, meaning it’s not cooked as frequently as the traditional beef Genovese, which is often a Sunday dish. But it’s one of those special recipes usually made in the summer or when you want to prepare something traditional yet with a sense of adventure. It’s always been on our family table. Still, credit must go to a great chef from Cetara—a wonderful village on the Amalfi Coast that we are deeply connected to as a family—Pasquale Torrente, who refined and popularized the dish over the years and brought it into the spotlight.”

Tuna is a distinct ingredient – how does it change the soul of the Genovese?

“Tuna is an extraordinary ingredient—of course, we’re talking about top-quality Mediterranean tuna. It’s perfect for this recipe because it’s what we call “meat from the sea.” It doesn’t change the soul of the traditional Genovese at all, but instead adds a touch of innovation, if we can say that, and a sense of freshness to the flavors.”

The classic Genovese simmers for hours – how did you adapt the technique for a quicker-cooking protein like tuna?

“Indeed, traditional meat Genovese takes about four hours to cook, mainly to allow the onions to meld with the meat and for the meat to break down—ironically, much like tuna naturally does. The cooking time for tuna Genovese is shorter, though only slightly, because the soul of the dish lies in the onions, which must cook for at least three hours to become well caramelized and give that signature creamy golden hue. The tuna is added about one hour into the onion cooking process.”

Do you still use the same onion-to-protein ratio as the traditional meat version?

“Lots of onions, lots of tears.”

Genovese is famously Neapolitan. What does it mean to you to reinterpret it through a Cilentan lens?

“For us Campanians—and more broadly, for us Southerners—Naples is a kind of cultural beacon, having been the political and cultural capital of the south before Italy was unified as a republic. Everything that comes from Naples deeply reflects our southern culture. Especially for someone like me, with Neapolitan roots, the cultural connections between Naples, Lucania, Cilento, the Vallo di Diano, and the Amalfi Coast create an immense and unique cultural heritage, all concentrated in just a few dozen kilometers.

As we often tell our guests and anyone who asks, food and cuisine are mirrors of culture. With Flora, we view it as our mission to introduce Americans to something extraordinary and different, and to demonstrate that Italy is not just about red sauce, cacio e pepe, carbonara, and pizza.

The first thing we want Americans to understand and fall in love with about Cilento—and southern Italy’s coasts and lands—is slowness. A love for slowness in everything: in growing produce, in harvesting, in preparing meals, in chatting, in loving and even arguing while cooking, and slowness in the shared human experience that is food. The slowness of Genovese, in other words.”