Eating in:This little fish packs a big meaty flavour
For such tiny creatures, anchovies have a surprising number of key roles. They are the backbone of a proper Caesar salad - a dish often seen with nary an anchovy waved in its direction.
Unlike most fish, anchovies are rarely used fresh; instead they come in all manner of preserved modes: salted, canned in oil, hot-smoked, dried, or, in Asia, reduced to fish sauce. Here we are too inclined to wrinkle up our noses and complain of something that is too often salty, more often the fault of the brand and the cook than the anchovy.
Almost every Italian or Spanish food shop will have anchovies alongside the olives and cured meats. Both cuisines value them more as a flavouring than on their own. Think roast lamb stuffed with anchovy, garlic and rosemary or of the excellent Italian starter of bagna cauda, a heady combination of garlic, butter, anchovies and olive oil that you dip raw vegetables in.
A tomato sauce for pasta becomes surprisingly meaty with the addition of a few anchovies. Melted with butter and finely chopped rosemary and garlic, they go well with meaty fish - think halibut and turbot - as well as grilled lamb or pork chops. Combined with potatoes, garlic, cream and Parmesan, they add weight to a gratin. Try beefing up a mayonnaise with capers and anchovies - heavenly with cold poached salmon.
Avoid international brands; concentrate instead on Spanish, Italian and Greek ones, buy from a small retailer and ask to taste those packed in oil - it's hard to taste salted anchovies.
The anchovies mentioned above are the salted ones, which are then often in turn kept in oil - they are grey/red in colour, rather than brown. You can also buy anchovies cured, usually in vinegar, which keeps them white. These tend not to break down in the cooking; however, the salted ones need the merest hint of heat and they collapse into a melting, meaty, silky richness.
Recipes serve 4
SALAD OF NEW POTATOES, GREEN BEANS, RADICCHIO AND ANCHOVY DRESSING
400g green beans, trimmed
salt and pepper
600g new potatoes
1 head radicchio, trimmed and leaves separated
50g tin of anchovies in olive oil, drained
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley, plus a little extra for serving
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
1 tsp finely chopped thyme
300ml olive oil
1 lemon
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the green beans for four minutes, or until just tender.
Remove and refresh under cold water. Add the potatoes to the same water and boil until cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the anchovies, garlic, chopped herbs and olive oil in a liquidiser with one tablespoon of water and switch on for one minute, adding lemon juice to taste.
When the potatoes are cooked, drain and toss in a bowl with the dressing. Place a tea towel over the top and leave to infuse for a minute.
Arrange the radicchio and beans on a large shallow dish, or individual plates.
Season well with salt and pepper and gently spoon the potatoes and dressing over them. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve.
GRILLED SEA BREAM WITH TOMATO & ANCHOVY SALSA
400g cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp roughly chopped basil
1 tbsp finely chopped mint
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 dessert spoon well-rinsed capers
pinch sweet paprika
extra virgin olive oil
4 sea bream (ask the fishmonger to remove the head and the spikes)
Cut each tomato into eight and combine in a bowl with the basil, mint, anchovies, capers and paprika. Add enough olive oil to form a thick sauce and season with pepper. Taste and see if you need salt.
Lightly oil the fish and season with salt and pepper, inside and out. Grill for five to six minutes on each side, or until cooked, the meat should just come away from the bone. Serve with the salsa and a lemon quarter.
CHICKEN PAILLARD
WITH GREEN SAUCE
4 chicken breasts
1 tsp thyme leaves
olive oil
2 lemons
2 tbsp capers
large bunch basil, roughly chopped
large bunch mint, roughly chopped
large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and mashed with a little salt
8 anchovies in oil, roughly chopped
dash of Tabasco
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Lay a sheet of cling film underneath and on top of the chicken and flatten with a rolling pin, so each breast is about a centimetre thick. Scatter the thyme leaves over them as well as four tablespoons of olive oil and the zest and juice from one of the lemons.
Season well with pepper and toss so everything is well coated. Cover with cling film and leave for an hour, or overnight in the fridge is better.
Combine the capers, herbs, garlic and anchovies and chop. This may seem like a business and something that could be done in a food processor. It can, but the result is not nearly as good. Transfer to a bowl, add the Tabasco and mustard and enough olive oil to form a thick paste.
Grill or chargrill the chicken for five minutes on each side or until cooked. Serve with the green sauce and a lemon half, along with some simply blanched spinach.