My family has run a restaurant in Almuñécar, on the south coast of Spain, without interruption since July 1975. My grandparents started it, and my father created the model we still follow. He loved fishing and cooking, so he joined the two: he bought only fresh fish and seafood, every day, from the municipal market and local fishermen, and served everything without bones. His motto was "if you find a bone, your food and drinks are on us." We still haven't had to treat anyone.

My father passed away last year, and I've been cooking in his place. Fitting for this article, we've helped make little tunny (Euthynnus alletteratus, "bacoreta" here) popular again in our town.

The tuna history here goes back a long way. Almuñécar was the Roman town of Sexi, named by Julius Caesar himself, and our restaurant sits right in front of the remains of its fish-salting factory, one of the most important in the Roman Empire. Sexi minted its own coins, with two tuna on them. It was also famous for a "psychedelic" garum made for the Roman elite from salema (Sarpa salpa), a fish people here call "siete cólicas".