Veal with tuna sauce (Vitello tonnato)

1. Put the veal in a pan that fits it snugly with the roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery and bay leaves, pour in the white wine and enough water to just cover, add salt and bring to the boil.

2. Cook at a bare simmer for about 50–60 minutes, or longer if needed, until the centre of the meat reaches at least 75 °C for 30 seconds. Lift out the meat, put it in a shallow container with a little cooking liquid, cool rapidly and refrigerate within 2 hours at most. Cool the cooking liquid needed for the sauce separately in a small container; do not wait for everything to cool completely in the large pot.

3. For the sauce, blend the drained tuna, anchovies, most of the capers and 3-4 tablespoons of the strained cooking liquid with a stick blender until creamy, then stir in the mayonnaise and lemon juice and season with pepper; if it's too thick, thin with a little more cooking liquid.

4. Lift out the cooled meat and use a sharp knife (or slicer) to cut it across the grain into very thin, 2-3 mm slices.

5. Spread a thin layer of sauce on a flat platter, arrange the slices of meat on top and coat evenly with the remaining sauce.

6. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours (better overnight), and scatter with the remaining capers before serving.

Tip: A Piedmontese classic eaten as a cold dish in Italy both in summer and at Christmas - it's best made a day ahead, so the meat soaks up the flavour of the sauce.