Glorious, stinky anchovies

Salted anchovies
featuring in
leek, olive and anchovy focaccia
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In England, anchovies are like squids. Most English will shriek at the idea of eating anything that walks on more than 4 legs, and yet, any major supermarket will always have them in stock. Once I asked the guy at the fish counter how people eat them in England, he replied in a small, hesitant voice 'they grill them...I think'. Maybe, but if they do, they must do it in secret, because I have never come across them at, say, a friend's house or heard even talking about them (not they are a particularly interesting topic for conversation, but you know what I mean!).

The same goes for anchovies. Every English person I've ever asked (my very English Husband on top of the list) give me the same horrified look when asked if they eat anchovies, and yet, any major supermarket will always have them in stock (where are you , English people, who eat anchovies and squids and what do you do with them?!!??).

In Italy, however, it is a different story altogether. And if Italians love anchovies, in Liguria we worship them. Any household worth its salt (no pun intended!) will not be found without a good supply of salted anchovies either proudly prepared from scratch or bought from the local fish monger. Salting anchovies is a custom as ancient as the sea itself and in Liguria, like in many other parts of Italy, salted anchovies have been granted a PDO certificate.

Anchovies travel a very long way before becoming the very fine delicacy they are on our tables. Born in Central America, they swim all the way to Gibraltar through the straits, in May you'll find them swimming in France and finally they arrive in Liguria. Not all anchovies are the same though. You’ll have to go to Monterosso (in Cinque Terre) if you want the best. Anchovies fished in this area have a unique colour: the shades on their back go from black to blue, while on their side they are the colour of shiny silver; their flavour is more delicate compared to the anchovies fished in the Adriatic sea. The best time to catch them is between the end of Spring (June 29th, to be precise (in case you don't want to miss the appointment!), to coincide with S. Pietro's day, the patron of fishermen) and mid July, when they lay the eggs and are therefore at their plumpest.

What's great about salted anchovies is that they can be consumed whole OR added to lots of dishes for extra flavour without actually being seen. So please, those of you who think that anchovies are ‘unlookable’ and ‘unsmellable’ take note of the following:

Heat a couple of lugs of olive oil in a pan, add a clove of garlic (skin still on) and a couple of anchovy fillets and fry gently until the anchovies are completely melted (magic!). Then add tomatoes (fresh, canned or passata), green olives or whatever you fancy.
With the same trick you can add flavour to lots of other sauces, relishes and also meat (next time you cook lamb, try making lots of small cuts on the surface of the meat and insert in each cut a small piece of anchovy, garlic and rosemary).

So, does Husband eat anchovies? Of course he does.
Does he know about it? Nupe...(well, he does now!).

If you live in an area where (very) fresh anchovies are available, you can try to salt them yourself. It is a bit messy but the end result will repay you of the effort.

To preserve fresh anchovies in salt (the Liguria way) you will need:

Fresh anchovies
Coarse sea salt
Glass or earthenware containers (an earthenware pot would be ideal. In Liguria, wide-neck jars called arbanelle are traditionally used). If possible, use containers with a capacity of approximately 1kg.

1. To clean the anchovies, break their head off and pull it away from the body to extract the interior sac. Don’t fillet them or break their backbone. Also resist the temptation to wash them, especially with tap water (if you live by an unpolluted stretch of sea, you can quickly rinse the anchovies in sea water but that’s it!)
2. The next step is pack the headless fish in your container, making sure they are not lying flat on their side but are straight (this helps preventing the salt from corroding their flesh). Cover with salt and arrange another layer of anchovies perpendicularly to the previous one. Repeat until you are a couple of centimeters from the edge (making sure the last layer is salt (!)).
3. Cover with a plate small enough to fit inside the container and place 1.5 kg weight on top of it.
4. Store in a cool place, untouched, for the next 40 days. During this time, the salt will partly melt with the liquid released by the anchovies, forming a brine that needs to be drained away.
5. After this period the anchovies are ready. Before eating, you must fillet and wash them by inserting your thumb inside the fish and carefully running it along the stomach, then pulling the spine away. Wash each fillet under cold running water.

An unusual touch to salted anchovies is given by Nicolas Le Bec in Cuisine brute, by suggesting to arrange the first layer of anchovies on a thin slice of smoked lard, a bay leaf and a some thyme (I’ve just try this myself, so I cannot report on the outcome but what can possibly go wrong when you put together such great ingredients?!).

In Liguria, the cleaned salted anchovy fillets are usually covered with extra-virgin olive oil to which finely chopped flat-leave parsley and garlic has been added and served on bread and butter as a starter (the longer they stay in the olive oil the better!). And course, anchovies are excellent on another all time favourite: pizza and focaccia!

For the leek, olive and anchovy focaccia you will need:

For the dough
500gr strong white flour
25gr fresh yeast
250ml lukewarm water
1tbspoon sea salt
1 tbspoon olive oil
To garnish
12 baby leeks (you can replace the leeks with salad onions)
20 Black olives
200g Anchovy fillets, cleaned and dressed with some olive oil and chopped parsley
1 tspoon origan
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt

1. In a small bowl, crumble the yeast in some of the water and add a tablespoon of flour. Mix well. Cover and leave the mixture to rise for half an hour.
2. Then mix with the remaining flour and water, salt and olive oil and work with your hand until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
4. When ready, roll out the dough into 4 thin bases.
5. Pre-heat the oven at 200˚.
6. Clean the leeks by removing the outside leaves. Cut them into very fine strips lengthwise and dressed the with olive oil, origan and salt.
7. Distribute the leeks, olives and anchovies among the 4 dough bases.
8. Cook in the pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes.