Anchovies

Anchovies are a small commercial sea fish of the anchovy family, rarely eaten fresh and most often salted and cured, turning them into a powerful flavour seasoning. It is precisely salted anchovies — fillets in oil or salt — that are one of the brightest sources of umami flavour in Mediterranean cuisine.

The flavour of preserved anchovies is rich, salty, deep, with that same “fifth” taste quality of umami that gives dishes fullness and richness. Their chief culinary magic is that, used correctly, anchovies do not make a dish “fishy” — they seem to “dissolve”, enhancing and deepening the overall flavour imperceptibly. So they are widely used as a secret ingredient: anchovies are an ingredient of the classic Worcestershire sauce, Italian sauces (puttanesca pasta, bagna càuda), and Caesar salad dressing, and they are added to braised meat, vegetables, pizza, and tapenade. Dissolved in warm oil, they become an aromatic base. Besides salted ones, there are marinated anchovies (in vinegar) with a fresher taste. Rich in protein and omega-3 fatty acids, anchovies are a valuable and powerful ingredient, a pinch of which can radically enrich the flavour of a dish.