Spice Road for the Art of Flavour

Readers will have noted our unbridled love for Anchovies. For this we make no apology.

We published the first of our Anchovy articles late 2023 and following, there has been regular Readers comments and several recipe suggestions regarding anchovies.

The article began: "You can see why Anchovies appeal to the Italian Sicilians. Anchovies have been described as having a mysterious complexity. It rather fits these wonderful Island people, you would think".

Readers beyond Sicily are also no doubt aware that these tiny little fish fillets with their strong flavour structure will totally disappear into a dish, without leaving any semblance of fish taste while continuing to deliver such a distinctive and mysterious flavour.

The Fifth Umami Taste

Thankfully, our culinary world provides such a place for ingredients possessing mysterious unique taste. It is called the fifth taste or better; Umami.

Having sorted all that we can now move on to a little of the history of this remarkable fish.

Best we can gather it was the Phoenicians and Greeks who introduced Anchovies to the world then the ancient Romans adopted Anchovies and created a recipe they called Garum heavily featuring anchovies and salt. The recipe continues today and preparing it is only for the brave.

Vietnamese cooking also brings in anchovies with their Nuac Mom sauce. Try it if you have the chance. It is really good.

Anchovy Patam Peperium - a British Gentleman's Relish

For a totally unique Anchovy derivative, the British Patum Peperium, a Gentleman's Paste or Relish is worth considering for your kitchen.

First created in 1823 it is the perfect condiment, elevating a pasta dish or barbequed steak, (awesome) and perfect with roast or raw vegetables, lamb chops or spread on ciabatta.

Recipe

120g x Anchovies in olive oil. Drained

120g x Butter - unsalted

1/4 x Teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 x Teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 x Teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 x Teaspoon ginger - minced

1/4 - 1/2 x Teaspoon black pepper.

1 x Pinch cayenne pepper or your preferred chilli fakes.

Preparation Place the butter and anchovies in a processor and pulse until you have a smooth relish or paste. Next add the pepper and spices to the paste and lightly pulse. Place in sealed jars - the relish will keep up to 2 weeks in a refrigerator

Important: To reduce the salt in the Anchovies, soak the anchovies in milk or cold water for one hour then pat dry.

Arthur Huxley