Mar 19 2009
From the Ghetto
As part of Challenge 2008, Dougal and I agreed that last year would be the year we both got to grips with anchovies. It hasn’t been totally sucessful- I still find them a little overwhelming- but I am now cooking with them and not shying away from dishes in restaurants merely because the little fishy bastards are mentioned.
In light of this, my Dad recommended this Nigella dish (again, from Feast) as an anchovy-rich dish which didn’t taste too fishy! Simply called Pasta with Sauce (we went for Linguine, in the absence of Bigoli or Bucatini) Nigella advises telling your guests it is ‘Venetian Sauce’ if you don’t want to fess up to the main ingredient.
The hit of the anchovies is tempered by the base of the sauce, slow cooked minced onion with a little sugar and milk to sweeten. Lashings of flat leaf parsely add a strong herby tone and the overall flavour is rich and onion-y, more than anything. Dougal ate a heap and came back for seconds-quite a rarity.
Nevertheless I was a bit out of my comfort zone. I found the texture a bit fazing, you could feel the little spiny prickles of the fish, even though the fillets had been stirred and fried into mushy oblivion. I didn’t go back for seconds- very unusual for me where pasta is involved- and the left overs languished, ending up in the bin.
I honestly wonder how much of my discomfort was to do with my preconceptions. If someone else had handed me a plate of pasta, told me it was Onion Sauce, would my initial happy chomping persisted to the end of the plate? Hard to know. Must keep trying!
Some anchovies are hairier than others; perhaps yours were particularly spiny… I was not aware of any in mine.
There again, mebbe it was your sensitive preconceptions x
Perhaps the difference was that mine were pretty fresh- IIRC the Southfield Anchovies (groovy name for a band?) were always partially degraded whilst still in the fridge, macerating gently in their olive oil!
My money’s on the preconceptions. Powerful things. I really DID start out thinking ‘this ain’t so bad’!!
Apparently purchasing Anchovies will help to slow the overfishing of the seas for pig food, according to Bill Nye the Science Guy. I need to develop a taste for them though.
I, too, have had a Damascene moment over anchovies as a result of doing the Nigel Slater Kitchen Diaries challenge. Two recent recipes – Pork and Lemon Polpettine and Lamb Fillet with Anchovies and Mint were scrummy – no ‘taste’ of anchovy at all, but instead, a deep savouriness. Check them out on my blog if you are interested in extending your growing taste for anchovies!
aw cheers Maggie, I will! I am embarrassed to say you’d dropped off my blog roll, don’t really know how, but i’ve just popped over to your site and it looks AMAZING! I have added you to my favourites once more! Are you on track, numbers wise? Looking back, it was April where things started to go down hill for us last year! Not especially auspicious, in hindsight!