Anchovies have always been an important ingredient in Occitan cuisine, as the Valle Mairais known for its ‘acciugai’, or anchovy traders. Curious how amountain people started trading in sea fish? The answer lies in the harsh winters of the Valle Maira, when theinhabitants had to look for another source of income and used the well-known ‘salt roads’ to reach Liguria, buy anchovieson the coast and then trade them.
Want to find out more about the history of the anchovy traders? Then our interview with Erica Castelli is the right read for you, because because anchovy trading has been in Erica’s family going back several generations.
But back to our recipe, because today's dish of redand green anchovies is one of the most popular starters here at Locanda Mistral. It is easy to prepare, but requires high-quality ingredients. Let’s start with the ingredients.
Ingredients
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200 g salted anchovies
For the sauce: -
1 bunch of parsley
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1 clove of garlic
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5 salted capers
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50 g bread soaked in vinegar
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4 anchovy fillets
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2 hard-boiled eggs
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1/2 glass of extra virgin olive oil
Preparation
Remove the salt from the anchovies by washing them under running water, then debone them. Peel the garlic and remove the core, wash the parsley and capers and boil the two eggs. Then puree the fillets in a bowl of vinegar before draining them on a tea towel.
Squeeze the bread soaked in vinegar well to remove any excess fat. Then separate the yolks from the whites of your two hard-boiled eggs. Finely chop the parsley, garlic and salted capers in a bowl using a hand blender or immersion blender. Then gradually add the remaining ingredients to the bowl: the anchovy fillets, the soaked and well-squeezed bread and the egg yolks. Mix everything well and season with salt.
Place the anchovy fillets in a flat-bottomed bowl, cover them with the green sauce and drizzle with oil. Leave to marinate before serving.It is best to prepare them a day in advance-they make a really delicious starter with toasted bread.
This sauce also goes perfectly with boiled red meat or boiled eggs.
Manuela's tips:
For a good result, Manuela recommends paying particular attention to the following factors:
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If you like spicy food, youcan finely slice a chilli pepper and add it to the sauce.
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The quality of the eggs: Pay attention to the labelling on the eggs. The first number on the egg indicates the farming method. It is best to choose eggs labelled with the number 0, which stands for organic farms.
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The quality of the oil: we only use Ligurian virgin olive oil made from Taggiasche olives.
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It is best to prepare the marinade the day before to intensify the flavour.
Manuela and the team from the Locanda Mistral wish you every success. We would be happy if you could please send us photos of your successful focaccia :-)
