Anchovies
are amongst Italy’s favourite fish. They’re often indiscriminately referred to
as alici or acciughe, two words defining the same thing, even though the former
should technically refer to the fillets preserved in vegetable oil and the
latter the whole fish, usually packed in salt.
Tasty,
cheap (at least in their fresh version) and healthy, they belong to the
so-called ‘pesce azzurro’ (blue fish) category thanks to the silver-blue hue of
their skin, and are also known as oily fish due to the high content of fat in
their flesh. Abundant throughout the Mediterranean Sea, they used to be a
staple in the humble fisherman’s diet on both shores of the Italian peninsula.
According to experienced fishermen, anchovies caught in the Tyrrhenian Sea are
bigger, leaner and have plumper meat, while the Adriatic ones are more
delicate.
Today,
anchovies are fished and processed in many seaside towns along the entirety of
the Italian coastline; they are considered an exquisite food, especially in
their preserved state, every bit as good as the famous Cantabrian varieties
from Spain. Some of the products made from the fish are just as excellent, for
example the famous colatura di alici (anchovy sauce) made in Cetara: an intense
fish-flavoured liquid obtained by the pressing and fermenting of salted anchovies.
Its origins are in the garum, a dressing used by the Ancient Romans to add
taste and aroma to many recipes.
In
the northeast of Italy, especially in the Venetian lagoons and nearby, sardines
– a similar fish, yet bigger and stockier with a slightly different taste – are
more common; often mistaken with anchovies, they are cooked in saor, with
pickled onions.
Here are some of the
most renowned Italian anchovies and the traditional ways they are prepared and
used in recipes.
Anchovy
Many
people will only have experienced anchovies as the shrivelled, salty slivers
found on half-baked pizzas of your youth. If you're an anchovy sceptic,
probably scarred for life by such pizzas, we implore you to think again.
Treated properly, anchovies take on magical properties. Chopped and stirred
into sauces, they add a subtle umami, salty seasoning that avoids that 'fishy'
odour that scares off many a budding anchovy-eater. You may not even be aware
of some of the classic dishes that anchovies play a key part in, such is their
subtlety. Spaghetti alla puttanesca, for example, sees anchovies infused into
the rich tomato and olive sauce. Salsa verde also boasts a healthy dose of
these small-but-mighty fish.
Anchovies
spoil very quickly after being caught, so are usually either packed into salt
or oil shortly after to preserve them. Saying that, if you can get your hands
on fresh anchovies, it's worth treating yourself to a beautifully simple dish
such as Grazia Soncini's Anchovies marinated in lemon - the delicate marinade
beautifully offsets the rich flesh of this oily fish.
Although
anchovies lend themselves particularly well to simple dishes, our Great Italian
Chefs have demonstrated in spades how they are worthy of starring in refined,
complex dishes. Pino Cuttaia's 'Anchovy painting' recipe sees the humble
anchovy elevated to a work of culinary art, while anchovies play a great
supporting role in the form of anchovy butter in Marianna Vitale's Veal tartare
recipe.
'Anchovy painting' –
anchovy with bottarga mayonnaise
by Pino Cuttaia
Pino
Cuttaia combines three punchy flavours of the sea in this creative starter,
with fresh anchovies, squid ink and tuna bottarga complemented by lightly
pickled onions, tomato and parsley.
Alici di Monterosso,
Liguria
The
wonderful area of Cinque Terre – five small villages facing the Ligurian Sea in
the eponymous National Park – is home to the delicious acciughe di Monterosso,
which is the name of the main village in the area. Traditionally caught at
night by lamplight and purse-seine fishing, they are hand-gutted, cleaned and
put into brine to preserve taste and texture. Locally known as pan du ma (‘the
bread of the sea’) and with a delicate, well balanced taste, salted or
marinated anchovies are eaten as a delicious starter – seasoned with extra
virgin olive oil, garlic and oregano – while fresh anchovies are often fried or
used in more elaborate recipes such as bagnun, a simple yet intensely flavoured
soup made with tomato, onions, olive oil and bread croutons.
Alici dell’Adriatico
All
along the Adriatic coast, fresh anchovies are an essential part of local
culinary traditions. In Marche, the sardoncini a scottadito (breaded anchovies,
grilled or baked) are an essential part of summer dinners, while in Abruzzo and
Puglia they are particularly popular when fried or served raw, gently pickled
with olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar.
Alici di Cetara
The
picturesque harbour of Cetara on the spectacular Amalfi coast has a strong
tradition of anchovy fishing. The small, beautiful fish tend to be caught in
the warmer months between April and August when their flesh is at its plumpest.
They are immediately gutted and filleted to allow all the blood to drain away
and then meticulously placed in alternate layers with salt in traditional
wooden containers, with a heavy stone on the lid to keep them pressed. They
will stay like this for up to two years in order to obtain the famous colatura
anchovy sauce, while a shorter time – around five months – is enough to produce
the exquisite salted anchovies. Both are a staple of local cuisine, whether
simply fried (plain or stuffed with cheese) or incorporated into the pasta dish
spaghetti aglio e olio with colatura.
Alici di menaica
Not
too far from Cetara, driving (or sailing) south is the stunning Cilento coast,
where the US researcher Ancel Keys ‘created’ the Mediterranean Diet, observing
the healthy local food habits. Here is Pisciotta, another small fishing village
famous for its anchovies. They’re known as menaica, from the name of the
traditional wide fishnet used to catch only the bigger, fleshier anchovies. The
salting and preserving process is very similar to Cetara, but usually here
salted (as well as fresh) anchovies are eaten rather then used to make colatura
sauce. A tasty local recipe is the alici inchiappate; fresh anchovies filled
with local cheese, eggs, garlic and parsley, coated with flour, fried and
served with tomato sauce.
Alici di Sciacca
Sicily
has a strong tradition in fishing and preserving fish such as tuna, swordfish,
sardines and – of course – anchovies. According to widespread opinion the best
ones can be found in Sciacca, a fishing harbour on the southern coast famous
for its fish canning industry. Local anchovies are traditionally caught in the
open sea towards North Africa by lamplight, and they’re processed in a similar
way to the Cetara variety. Salted or marinated anchovies add flavour to many
local recipes such as pane cunzato (the traditional sandwich filled with
tomatoes and other ingredients) or the delicious spaghetti seasoned with
chopped salted anchovies, tomatoes, capers, olives and Mediterranean herbs.
By Great Italian
Chefs