Recipes
p. 126
Anchovies under salt
The simplest preserve there is, and the one that teaches you most about patience.
Salt-packed anchovies are the simplest preserve in the Mediterranean pantry and, once you have made them, the hardest to give up. They need nothing but the freshest fish you can find, a lot of coarse salt and a heavy weight.
Buy the anchovies on the morning they were landed. They should be bright, stiff and smell of nothing but the sea.
Patience
For six weeks the salt draws out water and slowly cures the flesh until it turns from pink to deep rose. Pour off the liquid as it rises, and keep the fish pressed under the weight.
The recipe
Anchovies under salt
Makes one 500g jar
30 min, then 6 weeks
Ingredients
1kg very fresh anchovies 600g coarse sea salt A heavy weight Good olive oil, to serve
Method
Clean the anchovies, removing heads and guts but leaving the fillets joined. Layer salt and fish in a jar, finishing with a thick layer of salt. Press with a weight and leave in the fridge for six weeks, pouring off liquid as it rises. Rinse, fillet and cover in oil to serve.
“Fresh fish, coarse salt, a heavy stone. That is the whole recipe.”
About the writer
Kwame Asante
Kwame runs a twelve-seat supper club in Peckham and writes Octavo’s At the Table recipes. He cooks West African food through a Portuguese pantry.
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