Salt Packed Anchovies!

Salt Packed Anchovies!

Salt Packed Anchovies!

I would like to talk today about a rare delicacy, salt packed anchovies. Now these anchovies come from Liguria, on the northwest part of Italy, near France. They are harvested in nets by local fishermen and packed in salt. These anchovies are not the kind you're going to find crematedover your pizza, who's main purpose is to make a person very thirsty and willing to purchase more beer. No, these are the Rolls Royce of anchovies, the variety that the best chefs in the best restaurants in the world use.

I love them because they're so pure and so fresh. And that is the reason they are used by chefs in the know as well as the simple village tables in Southern Italy. They taste like the seas from which they come and actually when rinsed are not as salty as the types that the supermarket sells in little tins or bottles swimming in oil. Their flavor is mineraly and a bit sharp and they lend themselves well to sauces, or even eaten on a cracker or baguette with a bit of cheese.

They do however, take some preparation. You must filet and rinse them. Here's how I do it. I rinse an anchovy first for a second just to wash off the chunks of salt in-crusting it. I then take a sharp knife and run it up the underside from tail to head, then bend one side over. I then insert the point of my knife under the spine at the head and peel it back towards the tail. The spine and bones along with the tail will come off which you discard. You can also cut the fish in half from the head down and remove the spine that way. It takes a little practice but soon you will be filleting like a pro. I then put my filets into a small bowl of cold running water for about 15 minutes. You can also soak them overnight to remove more salt. After the rinsing I pat dry with a paper towel. They will still be salty, but that flavor! They do take a little work to prepare but the effort is well worth it. I also remove all the anchovies from the beautiful little can they come in and store them in a tupperware container. They will last indefinitely.

If you are like me and you love Italian food, you'll want to stock these in your pantry! Here's a couple of places where you can buy them online. If you live in a large city, you can find them at a good Italian food store, or you can just google 'salt packed anchovies' and there will be many links where you can find them. Enjoy!

If you found this article useful, you can view many more like it, some with video, as well as music, photography and cooking with a city style on my site, Urban Life. Here you can see a video of me preparing and using salt packed anchovies.

http://johnriveraurbanmusic.squarespace.com/urban-food/?currentPage=3

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