Being from Spain, anchovies have always been very close to our hearts. Spain has a great tradition of producing (and eating) anchovies. The two most famous corners for anchovy production in Spain are Santoña on the northern Cantabric Sea coastline and a small town named L'Escala in Catalonia on the Mediterranean coast.
The anchovy fish (or "boquerón" as we know it) are captured during the spring months. After carefully cleaning and slicing the fish into fillets, each one is covered in salt and then stored. After 6 to 12 months, voilà, you have anchovies. Salt preservation is one of the oldest methods for keeping food for extended periods - it goes back thousands of years!
Anchovies are so versatile, and there are so many different dishes and preparations that you can make with them - it would be too long to list them all here. If you want to have a properly stocked pantry at home, you need to have anchovies.
Some of my favorite preparations include:
- Anchovy pizza (the classic Napoli pizza includes anchovies and capers)
- Many pasta dishes, most famously the "puttanesca"
- Anchovy and tomato salad, total killer combination
- Tuna, red pepper, olives, anchovies sandwich (aka "Cantabrico")
- Together with some green olives for a snack. Often, during "vermut" in Spain, the olives are pitted with anchovy paste
- Nacho's favorite: "el matrimonio" (the marriage), a tapa combination of salted and non-salted (vinegar-based) anchovies
Here at Lata, we are proud to include one of the best anchovies in the market that do not need refrigeration: the Olasagasti Anchovies Donostiarra
"It took a while for us to find the right anchovy for our shop. We were looking for a fresh and tender fillet that wasn't overwhelmingly salty, but those tins usually needed refrigeration. We kept looking until we found Olasagasti's, and it was love right from the get go".
You can also check out more anchovy options in our online shop