Seared Ahi

Chatting with a couple of my office mates this morning, the subject of the seared ahi at Roy's came up. One of my colleagues thought the term seared, as applied to the piece of fish he ordered when last there, was an overstatement. With good ahi, the rawer the better in my opinion.

The topic put me in mind of one of my favorite passages from Moby-Dick, some advice second-mate Stubb gives to the Pequod's cook:

"Well then, cook; you see this whale-steak of yours was so very bad, that I have put it out of sight as soon as possible; you see that, don't you? Well, for the future, when you cook another whale- steak for my private table here, the capstan, I'll tell you what to do so as not to spoil it by overdoing. Hold the steak in one hand, and show a live coal to it with the other; that done, dish it; d'ye hear?" (Chapter 64, "Stubb's Dinner")