Anchovies: what is it, what are they eaten with in different countries of the world? What is anchovy, what are its benefits and harms, how to eat it? Valuable culinary ingredient.

In culinary recipes, fiction, the incomprehensible word anchovies has been encountered more than once. What is this? A small fish (maximum length does not exceed 20 cm), which is known in Russia as a component of the famous Caesar salad. On the shelves of our stores it is found as a dried, dried snack for beer, as well as preserves or canned food in glass jars.

What is anchovy

Anchovies are fish from the genus Pelagic, the Anchovy family. A flat, small fish with a cylindrical body, large eyes located at the end of the head, and an exorbitantly large mouth is an infrequent guest on the tables of Russians. Structural features are clearly visible in the photo of the anchovy. Silvery-white fish are sometimes decorated with a stripe on the midline of the body.

Where are anchovies found

These inhabitants of marine coastal waters never go out into the open ocean. The hamsa, well known to many, is a European anchovy, but there are also subspecies:

• Azov;
• Mediterranean;
• Black Sea.

From the names of the subspecies, their habitats are clear: the Mediterranean, the Black and Azov Seas. Other subspecies are also known: Argentine, Australian, Peruvian, Japanese, Californian and Cape. Japanese, Mediterranean, Azov and Black Sea anchovies are popular with consumers due to their fat content, which is 23-28%.

Composition of anchovy

Small fish are also a source of easily digestible protein that is quickly digested. So, the body will spend 5-6 hours digesting beef, while fish will be digested in 2-3 hours. Fish oils are rich in polyunsaturated acids, which dissolve cholesterol. A feature of such fats is that they are enriched with F vitamins, which are not synthesized in the human body, but must be present in food.

Anchovy contains (per 100 g of product):

• proteins - 20.1 g;
• fats - 6.1 g (polyunsaturated + monounsaturated + saturated);
• potassium and sodium - 300 and 160 mg;
• vitamins - A (retinol), K, D, E (tocopherol), group B (niacin, folic, pantothenic acids, cyanocobalamin, thiamine and riboflavin);
• ascorbic acid;
• minerals - phosphorus, calcium, iron, sodium, iodine and zinc;
• antioxidants.

Anchovy benefits

Anchovy is a marine fish, which causes a rich chemical composition, which is a storehouse of macro- and microelements, useful substances. With constant eating, a small fish will improve the quality of life, as it will enrich the body with useful components necessary for human life.

It will help:

• strengthening of bone tissue and teeth;
• prevention of endocrine diseases;
• normal functioning of the central nervous system;
• supporting emotional health, increasing stress resistance;
• strengthening immunity;
• prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

Eating anchovy reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. Benefits in the normalization of blood pressure, cholesterol levels due to Omega-3 and Omega-6 in the composition have been noticed. Fish should be included in the menu of the elderly, it goes well with many side dishes, while it is inexpensive and considered accessible to various segments of the population.

Harm

Strict contraindications for the use of anchovy have not been identified. But like any product, fish can cause allergic reactions. It should be used with caution by people suffering from allergic manifestations of seafood. People with iodine intolerance, allergies, it is recommended to abstain or limit the amount of fish consumption.

On the shelves of stores, fish is found salted or canned. It is better for hypertensive patients to soak the fish before use to remove excess salt. People suffering from joint diseases or gout should exclude anchovies from the menu, because the product contains purines that increase uric acid levels. Patients with gout are shown a diet low in purines.

Application in cooking

The use of anchovies has been known since ancient times. The famous ancient Roman sauce Garum was prepared from the blood and intestines of fish by fermentation. In addition to fish, olive oil, vinegar or wine were added there. Garum has been a component of many recipes. A similar recipe for fish sauce is used today in Southeast Asia.

If the salted anchovy is finely chopped and poured with olive oil, then it will almost completely dissolve in the oil, giving it a noble piquant taste. It is important to note that only anchovy is suitable for the preparation of such oil, but replacing it with anchovies, sprats will not work - they simply will not dissolve.

To give a special taste, smell, necessary salinity to dishes, fish is used, salted in a certain way. There is the concept of "anchovy salting": fresh fish immediately after the catch is poured with spicy brine, leaving it there for several days. After that, the anchovies are sprinkled with salt and transferred to barrels, kept for 4 months. Such fish is used everywhere.

European chefs use salted fish to make:

• the famous Worcestershire sauce;
• Italian pizza, pasta;
• Caesar salad;
• pates, sandwiches;
• capers with gourmet dressing.

What to substitute for anchovy

It happens that anchovy is not at hand, but it is necessary to convey its taste to the dish. Fish from the herring breed, so similar in taste are suitable: sprat, herring, anchovy, sardines, sprats and sprats. Another option is Thai fish sauce, which will give a bright fishy flavor, which is necessary in the dish. The traditions of making such a seasoning are carefully preserved and passed on in Asian countries from father to son.

European anchovy- the most valuable commercial fish, the value of this type of fish was distinguished by the inhabitants of Ancient Greece and Rome. Anchovy or anchovy has found very wide application in the cuisines of many countries of the world, especially the countries of the Mediterranean region and Southeast Asia. This small fish (the length of adults is 12 - 15 cm) is caught in the coastal waters of all continents, hence such a wide range of applications.
In addition to the natural fresh look, this fish is widely used in canned food. Anchovy in oil is the most popular type of canning. Thanks to this “careful” type of preservation, the fish is preserved for a very long time, without losing any of its unique taste and strong specific aroma. In this form, anchovy is used in the preparation of sauces, salads, first and main courses, as a natural flavor enhancer. During heat treatment, the anchovy fillet in oil almost completely dissolves in the dish, does not change the texture of the food, leaving only an excellent aroma and taste. Very often, canned fish in oil is added to pizza toppings or various types of pies.

Benefits of anchovy in oil:

It is not for nothing that anchovy in oil is very popular all over the world. Fish is unique in its composition, it contains the most fatty acids, vitamins (A, B1, B2, B5, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, PP), micro and macro elements ( phosphorus, iodine, potassium, magnesium, copper). Such a number of useful elements determines the beneficial effect of anchovy meat on the human body. Nutritionists note the positive effect of fish meat on: the cardiovascular, nervous, digestive systems, on the skin and mucous membranes of a person. Its use in atherosclerosis and diabetes is widely known. Anchovy fillet is allowed to be introduced into the diet of children from the age of one year, as a natural storehouse of vitamin D.

Harm and contraindications:

Probable troubles for the body can bring the use of fresh anchovy, with improper processing. Canned anchovies in oil can only harm people with individual intolerance to the components that this fish contains.

anchovies anchovies

Under this name, three types of products (products) from herring fish are known. In Western European languages, they are all written differently, although in Russian they are pronounced the same.

1. Anchosen. Herring, which has been ripening for several months in uncut form in brine with spices. Already cut up, it is transferred to another sauce with a small amount of saltpeter - so that the herring meat turns red. Then the herring is cut into slices. The meat of such anchovies is very tender when cooked.

2. Anchovis. Small herring or small Baltic herring placed in brine for several days immediately after being caught. For half a month it is transferred to a new brine, and then placed in rows in barrels without brine, sprinkled with coarse salt and spices. At a temperature of +4 ° C, it is kept for four months - and without cutting it is sent in small containers for sale.

3. Anschovsen. Sardines cut with a carcass immediately after the catch, and further processed as in the second case.

(Culinary Dictionary of V.V. Pokhlebkin, 2002)

* * *

A small fish of the herring family, known to us as anchovy. Served salted in a special spicy brine. It is used to decorate dishes, to prepare sauces, such as Worcestershire, to improve the taste of pie fillings.

* * *

(Source: United Dictionary of Culinary Terms)

Anchovies

Anchovies and our distant ancestors were once quite familiar. What can you say about us, a little crippled by public catering, but who, thank God, have not lost interest in life. So, the Stalinist\"Book of tasty and healthy food \" 1953 edition claims that anchovy is just another name for the Black Sea anchovy. And also that the name \"anchovy \" actually marks only a special way of cooking,\"anchovy ambassador\". And that in the country of victorious socialism it is absolutely shameless to bungle anchovies from a small White Sea herring, Baltic herring or some other small fish. Does this definition suit us? No. Well, maybe in part.

Since\"anchovy ambassador \" and nature still exists. That's what it is. Immediately after the fish is caught, they are placed in a brine with spices for several days, then transferred to barrels, sprinkled with coarse salt, and kept for four months. Often a small amount of saltpeter is added to the brine so that the fish has a delicate taste and an appetizing pinkish color.

Real anchovies are caught in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Southern Europe. They are tiny silvery fish with a greenish-black stripe along the spine. They belong to the genus Engraulidae and are direct relatives of the herring. Canned anchovies are usually in oil. The result is a cross between salted sprat and sprats. Therefore, attention! - replacement in anchovy recipes with sprat or herring of spicy salting, to put it mildly, is undesirable. You will obviously not achieve the desired taste, and some of the products and spices recommended by the recipe will be completely inappropriate.

Until the end of the 16th century, salted anchovies remained a feature of the cuisine of Provence, but in the 17th century they spread throughout France. They were especially valued for the fact that they contain exactly the amount of salt that gives the food a natural taste, and at the same time make the dishes more piquant, stimulating the appetite and promoting digestion. But, as with other seasonings, in the 17th century, moderation was a necessary and indispensable condition for their use. \"One anchovy will be quite enough \" - Pierre de Lune, a French culinary author of those times, instructed readers.

However, note: anchovies do not have to be salted or oiled. In the markets of Spain, Italy and France, you can also buy fresh ones - they have white tender flesh, and they are cooked in a variety of ways. Not only the natives of the Mediterranean are famous for their love for anchovies, but also the British, and even the Americans. In English, thank God, the word anchovy first appeared in Shakespeare's drama "Henry IV" in 1597. In addition to the mentioned play, the British own the copyright for one of the world's most popular anchovy sauces - \"Wooster\". In 1837, the English governor brought from Bengal to Worcestershire a recipe for making the sauce he liked in India. And ordered to prepare it in a local pharmacy. But the result of the customer's pharmaceutical studies disappointed and was indignantly rejected as rubbish. The story was soon forgotten, the sauce was hidden out of sight, in the basement. It was found only a few years later, when the warehouses were being cleaned. And it turned out that \"rested \" sauce acquired an absolutely exceptional taste. Fortunately, the recipe has not been lost. So, vinegar, soy, molasses, salted anchovy juice, chili, ginger, shallots, garlic, tamarind, lime, cloves and a few other exotic fruits and spices. But anchovies - anchovies are important here like nothing else. But enough generalities. Let's move on to the details.

As mentioned above, anchovies are especially loved in the Mediterranean. And most of all - Italians. The clearest and most ubiquitous example is pizza\"Four Seasons\". Or pizza "Andrea" - with onions, garlic, basil, oregano, tomatoes, olives and anchovies. Half the world has tasted the hot sauce "Bagna cauda". It is prepared in Piedmont from butter, anchovies and garlic, served with fresh vegetables or simply with bread. In Rome, for Easter, young lamb is cooked with anchovies and rosemary. The Milanese are famous all over the world for their famous "Vitello tonnato" - pieces of cold fried veal in a sauce of mashed tuna, anchovy fillets, capers, lemon juice and olive oil. This typical summer dish is prepared on the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, August 15th. In Calabria they make the famous \"poor man's caviar\" or \"Calabrian caviar\", from anchovies with olive oil and pepper. In Trieste, a mixture of gorgonzola, mascarpone, cream, anchovy paste, cumin, chives and mustard is served as the finishing touch to a meal. It would seem a strange combination, but very interesting in taste (although, in our opinion, it would be better to bring it at the very beginning for a snack). In Venice, they cook ducks, guinea fowls, partridges and just chickens under an exquisite pepper-anchovy sauce "Peverada". And, finally, the most frivolous dish of Campania - spaghetti with "Puttanesca" sauce.

It is clear that Spanish cuisine also uses anchovies very actively. For example, they are stuffed with might and main pies, fried in batter or marinated in vinegar with olive oil and garlic. And with no less enthusiasm than in the 17th century, they continue to eat anchovies in France. They are still added to sauces, which are simply impossible to count. In Provence, they prepare anchovy oil and anchoyad seasoning. And tapenade is a thick, pasta-like sauce for which capers, anchovies, garlic and pitted black olives are crushed in a mortar, gradually introducing olive oil into this mixture, and finally lemon juice, black pepper, rosemary and thyme are added. Tapenade is very good on fried toast with wine, as a seasoning for raw vegetables or hard-boiled eggs, as well as grilled meat or strong-smelling fish dishes. For example, sea bream and tuna, which are very common here, are often served under tapenade.

And the Swedes! Cold, it would seem, the nation, and even that one - not a day without anchovies. One of the classic dishes of their cuisine is "Jonsson's Temptation" (Janssonsfrestelse): lightly fried potato slices are laid out on a baking sheet, layered with anchovy fillets and fried onions, the top layer is smeared with mayonnaise, sour cream, cream or melted butter, sprinkled with breadcrumbs and baked in the oven for 30-45 minutes. The name of this variety of anchovy gratin is not associated with some unknown glutton Jonsson, but with the film of the same name, very popular in Sweden in 1928. By the way, their Norwegian neighbors also know how to cook anchovies - on April 14, 1912, Norwegian fish were even included in the menu of the last dinner of passengers of the first class of the infamous "Titanic" ...

Anchovies easily crossed the Atlantic and firmly established themselves on the bar counters of the New World - small snack sandwiches with anchovies or anchovy paste (a product of pureed anchovies, vinegar, spices and water) have been in constant demand in the USA for many decades. By the way, even the word\"canape\" appeared in English in 1890 precisely in the meaning of\"small anchovy sandwich\". And in the most famous American salad, "Caesar", they even became an occasion for culinary strife. This salad today traditionally includes anchovies, although its author, Cesar Cardini, is said to have strongly objected to adding too harsh a product to the dressing, as this makes the food rough. In 1948, he even patented his original dressing, and it is still sold today under the name Cardini\'s Original Caesar dressing mix.

Unfortunately, Russian cuisine is friends with anchovies only in retrospect. In the book by Yu. M. Lotman and E. A. Pogosyan \"Great dinners \", published in St. Petersburg in 1996, one of the most intricate French beef dishes \"English loin \" is described, which was distributed in Russian aristocratic cuisine of the 19th century. The breast part of the beef was boiled, then stuffed with anchovies and fatty ham, wrapped in a napkin and continued to cook in the broth, adding two glasses of French vodka (we believe that brandy is meant), half a bottle of white wine, lemon and spices. The sauce for this dish was prepared from morels, mushrooms, anchovies, onions and sometimes Dutch herring. The basis of the sauce was a thick broth brewed with flour, to which Rhine wine was added, and the most demanding gourmets demanded exclusively roasted chestnuts as a side dish. In the proposed recipes, we tried to preserve the spirit of authenticity of the national cuisines to which they belong.

Dictionary of culinary terms. 2012 .

See what "anchovies" are in other dictionaries:

- (Engraulis), genus pelagic. marine fish family. anchovy neg. herring. The body is cigar-shaped, dl. up to 15 20 cm, small dorsal fin. The mouth, unlike herring, is large. 6 species, in coastal temperate waters of both hemispheres. In the waters of the USSR ... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary- pl. 1. Small marine fish of the herring order, which is found in marine and fresh water bodies. 2. The meat of such a fish, eaten. 3. Food prepared from such meat. Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language Efremova

The family of fish ref. herring. Schooling fish. Length up to 20 cm, weigh up to 19 g. 15 births, St. 100 species, in the sea. and fresh waters of temperate and tropical. latitudes, including in the Black, Azov and Japanese seas. Fishing object. Anchovy European ... Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

anchovies- (Engraulis), a genus of fish of the anchovy family. 6 species, of which 3 species live off the coast of America: California A. (Engraulis mordax), Peruvian A. (Engraulis ringens) and Argentine A. (Engraulis anchoita). Body length up to 20 They feed on zooplankton and ... Encyclopedic reference book "Latin America"

In the Russian culinary tradition, anchovies are somehow unlucky. Sometimes they are considered some unknown exotic delicacy and are pronounced with a breath and a feeling of touching the spheres of haute cuisine. That, on the contrary, is recorded in one row with a sprat-tulka.
In fairness, we note that in some relationship with the notorious sprat, the anchovy still consists: both of them are the herring order. But the families are already dispersing: the sprat is Herring, and the anchovy, oddly enough, is Anchovy.

Here is the statement “anchovy is just anchovy!” already closer to the truth. Hamsa is one of the types of anchovies, European. And there are also Japanese, Caspian, Australian, Californian, Peruvian, Argentinean and, finally, silver ones. It is important to remember that it is also impossible to replace anchovy with domestic-made anchovies - the salting technology and the requirements for the quality of fish are completely different. And if finely chopped salted anchovy (oh miracle!) Almost completely dissolves in olive oil, giving it a noble spicy taste, then this trick cannot be pulled off either with native anchovies, let alone sprats.

But let's leave these taxonomic subtleties and better mentally move to some Mediterranean coast. For example, to the French town of Collioure in the Gulf of Lyons, where anchovies have been harvested since the Middle Ages, or even earlier. Salting technologies have changed little over the past centuries, and it is not necessary: ​​anchovy - it appeals to simplicity. First, the fish is rolled in coarse salt and placed in huge wooden barrels, where it languishes "in its own juice" for two weeks. Then they gut her and deprive her of her head. By the way, manually. They are sorted by size and again put into barrels - but already different and neat: in even layers, each sprinkled with salt. So she lives for another three months. At the final stage, the paths of anchovies diverge: someone will become a simple salted fish in jars or boxes, and someone will become anchovy fillets in oil. Or anchovy marinated in dry white wine.

Salted anchovies, by the way, before use, it is sometimes worth soaking for 10-20 minutes in water or milk to remove excess salt.

We need all this background so that we are not afraid of the anchovy and understand what exactly we are eating. It’s really ridiculous to be afraid of anchovy: this fish is small, it grows up to a maximum of twenty centimeters, and then if you’re lucky. Its standard “can” size is 7-8 centimeters.
But this is just the case when "small but daring": this silver crumb has a very significant impact on European cuisine. Sauces, pastes and tapenades; pizzas and pies; stuffed poultry and grilled fish; salads, cold appetizers and even fondue - where this little fish has not been.

Silver Classic

Despite the myriad variety of dishes with anchovies in their composition, when mentioning this fish, three things first come to mind: tapenade (or tapenade), Worcestershire sauce and garum sauce. Three giants of three very different cuisines: Provencal (and eventually the entire western part of the Mediterranean), English and ancient Roman.

Garum - an ancient Roman sauce made from fermented anchovies (and sometimes shellfish), vinegar, olive oil and salt - is more interesting for us from a historical point of view. At least because the huge stone baths in which the Romans withstood the garum cannot be found in the daytime with fire. I would like to add: and because in our civilized time the idea of ​​fermenting fish cannot seem attractive, even the Swedes and Icelanders seem to have stopped eating aged shark liver. But we won’t add it, because it’s not true: firstly, traditional Chinese or Vietnamese fish sauces are made almost exactly the same as garum. Secondly, the famous Worcestershire sauce, which appeared in more than civilized England in more than cultural Victorian times, is basically nothing more than fermented anchovy paste.

We, of course, will not make Worcestershire sauce at home (at least because we will have nowhere to live after that), but an educated person still needs to know its composition.
The list of Worcestershire sauce ingredients is almost as impressive as Homer's list of ships. But if the second is traditionally read “to the middle”, then we recommend reading the first in full.

So let's go: fermented anchovy paste, tomato paste, walnut extract, mushroom extract-decoction, tamarind, dessert wine, lemon, horseradish, celery, meat extract, aspic, malt vinegar, water, salt, burnt sugar, tarragon vinegar tincture , ginger, bay leaf, nutmeg, ground black pepper, curry powder, chili pepper, allspice. There are also different versions: with shallots, onions, garlic, asafoetida.

And, finally, tapenade (tapenade), or, as it is called in Provence, "poor caviar." And how can one not recall the famous “overseas, squash caviar”: after all, what is practically “pasture” for Provence, for us is quite overseas exotics. Tapenade has three main components: anchovies, capers (in Provencal - tapeno), olives. They eat this hearty, but at the same time quite light snack, generously spreading it on fresh homemade bread or a baguette.

The Provencals actively add garlic to the tapenade - in this region, garlic is generally in use. In addition, they diversify the traditional food with rosemary and basil, canned tuna, sun-dried tomatoes, nuts, mustard, lemon juice. Add to the tapenade and a little strong alcohol: rum, grape vodka, brandy.

Classic Provencal tapenade

Ingredients:
100 g anchovy fillets (in their own juice or just salted)
250 g pitted black olives (pickled or salted)
100 g capers
2 garlic cloves
100 tuna (in own juice)
2-3 sprigs of basil (purple is better)
and/or 2-3 sprigs of parsley
150 g olive oil
1 st. l. black rum (or grape vodka)
juice of ½ lemon (optional)
ground black pepper

Cooking:
Grind anchovies, garlic and herbs in a blender. Not quite porridge, but fine enough. Add all other ingredients to the blender bowl, turn the whole mixture again until more or less homogeneous.
Important! Salt tapenade is not worth it. Even if you pre-soak the anchovies and take pickled rather than salted olives, it’s still likely that the “own” salt of the products will be enough, and you won’t have to add salt.

In the same way, you can make a tapenade mix, in which black olives are combined with green ones. Generally speaking, nothing prevents making it just from green ones.

And there is also the Corsican version of tapenade (although it is not called tapenade there): anchovies are ground in a blender along with fresh figs and garlic; This pasta is spread on fresh bread lightly drizzled with olive oil.

What to do with all this goodness? There are options.
You can, like simple Provencals, spread it on fresh bread, take such a sandwich in one hand, a tomato or a good piece of fresh rennet cheese in the other, and eat slowly, drinking dry white wine. You can make tapenade sandwiches, fry them well, pressing them firmly into a dry frying pan, cut into strips and serve with good mozzarella, lettuce and fresh tomatoes. Can be served with fresh vegetables or stuffed with hard-boiled eggs. And you can make, for example, palmieres au tapenade - puff "ears" with tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes and thyme. You can stuff chicken or “cover” grilled sea bream or tuna ... In general, in any case, a good tapenade on the farm will not stale and will not disappear.

Like his "younger brother" - anchoad:

Anchoad

Ingredients
100 g salted anchovy fillets
150 g olive oil 2-3 garlic cloves
ground black pepper
1 st. l. wine vinegar

Cooking:
Anchovy fillets, along with garlic, crush well in a mortar. The lazy ones can use a blender, but here it is like with pesto: either speed or result. Add vinegar and pepper and, whisking with a fork or small whisk, add olive oil: you should get a thick, homogeneous paste. You can add a little more mustard without grains.
This pasta is served with raw vegetables, boiled eggs, toast.

Silver of the North
A well-deserved tribute to this small silver fish is paid not only in the sunny Mediterranean. One of the most famous Swedish dishes, Jonson's Temptation, is also based on anchovies.

Temptation of Jongson

Ingredients (in any quantity):
anchovies
potato
onion
homemade sour cream or melted butter
breadcrumbs

Cooking:
Peel the potatoes, cut into medium-sized slices, lightly fry. Cut the onion into strips or half rings, simmer in butter or vegetable oil. Spread on a baking sheet in layers: potatoes - onions - anchovies. It is better to lightly sprinkle each layer with oil or grease with sour cream. Repeat layers. Lubricate the top layer well with sour cream, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and place the baking sheet in the oven. Readiness of the dish is determined by the readiness of the potatoes.

They say that in the canonical Swedish version, instead of sour cream, there is homemade mayonnaise. But, homemade or not, mayonnaise is still an emulsion, and subjecting it to heat treatment is at least pointless, at most harmful. Where better to take good thick sour cream (you can add a little mustard to it). And anchovies will add piquancy to the dish.

There are many anchovies in the cuisine of the Apennine peninsula. Since the time of the garum, the preferences of Italians have changed significantly. What is not done here with these silvery fish! Here are just a few examples:
- Sphincini pizza with anchovies and pecorino;
- Andrea pizza: anchovies, onions, garlic, basil, oregano (oregano), tomatoes, black olives;
- hot sauce "Bagna cauda" of anchovies, garlic and olive oil - served with raw vegetables or fresh bread;
- Easter lamb with anchovies and rosemary;
- "Calabrian caviar" - an appetizer like anchoad: anchovies, olive oil, black pepper;
- Trieste afternoon snack: anchovy paste mix with gorgonzola, mascarpone, cream, cumin, mustard and chives;
- Venetian poultry (partridges, ducks, guinea fowl) with Peverada sauce (anchovies, baked chicken or goose liver, parsley, garlic, soft Italian salami, lemon, white wine and white wine vinegar);
- Campania spaghetti with puttanesca garlic-anchovy sauce (anchovies, tomatoes, garlic, butter and olive oil, parsley, pepper)
and much more. For example, pissaladière, an alternative pizza. Initially, this dish is French, but in Italy it has taken root as a native. So to speak, the reverse migration of pizza.

Ingredients:
For filling:
10-15 anchovy fillets
1-1.5 kg of onion
3-4 garlic cloves
a couple sprigs of thyme
10-15 large black olives
1 tsp Sahara
4 tbsp. l. olive oil
salt pepper
For test:
500 g flour
2 sachets of baking powder
2 tbsp. l. olive oil
2 tsp salt
300 ml water

Cooking:
Chop the onion coarsely, finely chop the garlic. Simmer both in a saucepan or deep frying pan over low heat for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. 20 minutes before the end, add thyme, pepper, salt, sugar. At the very end, put the anchovy fillets in the onion.
Sift flour, mix with salt and baking powder. Add water and oil, knead the dough - it should turn out smooth and elastic. Roll it out, put it on a greased baking sheet and set it to settle in a warm place for 1 hour.
Put the filling on the dough, spread the olives on top.
Send the pizza to the oven preheated to 220 ° C for 20 minutes.

Another fine example of the elegant use of anchovies in Italian cuisine is the world-famous "Vitello tonnato", which simply translates as "veal with tuna". Chefs are still arguing about how to properly cook veal for this dish. Some argue - only cook, and minimalistically: only salt and black pepper, nothing more! The second insist: bake! Moreover, with vegetables, wine, zest - in general, elegantly. We offer you the second option:

Ingredients:
700 g veal (ideally tenderloin)
80 ml white wine
1 bulb
1 carrot
1 celery stalk (optional)
1 sprig rosemary
grated zest of 1/2 lemon and 1/2 orange (optional)
olive oil
butter
beef broth
salt

For sauce:
200 g tuna in oil
4-5 anchovy fillets in oil
2 boiled eggs
10 g capers
lemon juice
olive oil

Cooking:
In a deep frying pan, heat butter and olive oil, put coarsely chopped celery, onion, carrots, add a sprig of rosemary.
Meat - in one piece - fry in the same pan on all sides until slightly golden.
Pour wine, broth, orange and lemon zest into a deep baking dish. Salt the meat and place in a dish with vegetables.
Bake the meat in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, at a temperature of 220 ° C. Periodically turn it over and pour liquid from the mold.
You can bake the meat the day before or in the morning if you plan to serve it in the evening.
For sauce, blend tuna, capers, anchovies, and (optional) boiled eggs in a blender. Add olive oil and lemon juice, stir. You will get a beautiful pink sauce, similar in texture to mayonnaise.
Cut the veal into beautiful thin slices, place 2-3 slices on a large serving plate, brush each with sauce and bend. Before serving, you can decorate with thin feathers of green onions, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.

In general, what can I tell you: the path of a small silver fish is long and varied. From the time of the Caesars to the present day; from Provence to New York, from Spain to Norway; from rustic tapenade to Bloody Mary. Are you surprised by the latter? But what, Mary without Worcestershire sauce is just vodka with tomato juice, and in Worcestershire sauce they are just anchovies.

Consists of 8 very closely related species that inhabit the coastal temperate waters of both hemispheres:

• European anchovy, or anchovy, ( Engraulis encrasicolus);
• Japanese anchovy ( Engraulis japonicus);
• cape anchovy ( Engraulis capensis listen)) lives in the Atlantic waters of South Africa;
• Australian anchovy ( Engraulis australis listen)) - along the southern coasts of Australia and New Zealand;
• California anchovy ( Engraulis mordax),
• peruvian anchovy ( Engraulis ringens),
• silver anchovy ( Engraulis eurystole) - along the East Coast of the United States,
• Argentine anchovy ( Engraulis anchoita).

All anchovies live some distance from the coast, never going out into the open ocean; found at water temperatures from 6 to 22 ° C. They make daily (vertical) and seasonal migrations. The maximum length of anchovies does not exceed 20 cm, but the number of these schooling fish is very large. In terms of the total mass of all individuals, they rank first among fish, and in terms of the number of specimens they are second only to some small deep-sea fish, in particular cyclothones (Cyclothone). All anchovies are planktivorous and play an important role in the marine food chain, in turn serving as food for predatory fish, dolphins, squid and seabirds. Fertility - 20-30 thousand eggs.

Some species

European anchovy

Its usual length is 12-15 cm. A flocking coastal fish, anchovy annually migrates from wintering places to spawning and feeding places. In summer it moves to the north, rising to the upper layers of the water; in winter - to the north, lowering to a depth of 400 m. Spawning from April to November. Ripens in the 2nd year of life. It feeds on zoo- and phytoplankton. Life expectancy - 3-4 years. An important object of fishing, especially in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Japanese anchovy

peruvian anchovy

peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens) - the most massive of all fish living on Earth.

Its high abundance is explained by the special conditions of existence: it lives off the coast of Peru and Northern Chile, where deep waters rich in nutrients (salts of nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon) are actively rising to the surface. As a result, a huge amount of phytoplankton develops here, which is the main food of this fish, which, unlike other anchovies, prefers to feed not on zooplankton, but on microscopic algae. In addition, the Peruvian anchovy has almost no food competitors, since coastal waters within its range are noticeably cooler compared to neighboring areas of the open ocean. The temperature here fluctuates from 16-23°C in summer to 10-18°C in winter, and tropical plankton feeders cannot exist in such conditions. There are few predatory fish here, so its main predators are fish-eating birds - cormorants, gannets, pelicans, gulls, nesting in large numbers along the coasts of Peru and Chile. The Peruvian anchovy does not make significant migrations. The spawning of this species is strongly extended, but its main peak falls on the summer months. Like other anchovies, it has a short lifespan; its usual length is 14-15 cm.

fishing

Anchovies are one of the most important groups of commercial fish. In - gg. their annual catch reached 12-14 million tons, of which 11-13 million tons came from the Peruvian anchovy. In the 1980s due to overfishing under adverse climate change, the stocks of this species have decreased, but by the 1990s. almost recovered to their original size. European and Japanese anchovies also play a significant role in the fishery. Tropical species have only local commercial value. Anchovies are caught mainly with purse seines.

The value of anchovies as an object of fishing is largely determined by the high fat content of these fish. So, the Azov anchovy in the fall after the end of feeding contains 23-28% fat. The taste of these fish is very high. Even in ancient times, Mediterranean anchovies were highly valued in salty form and for making garum sauce; in Japan and Korea, anchovies are traditionally eaten. However, anchovies are not eaten everywhere. Almost the entire catch of Peruvian anchovy, for example, is used to make fishmeal to feed livestock and fertilize fields. Many tropical anchovies, as well as Japanese and Californian anchovies, are used as feed for farmed fish species and as bait for tuna fisheries.

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