Yes, I know that your mind would have jumped immediately to caviar, if it wasn't for the photo above. But, I feel like pricey fish roe gets plenty of kudos as a luxury victual - anchovies still need a bit a of help in that regard.
These fishies have been getting a poor rap over the years for being rank, briny, spindly, brittle, bony little creatures that you thrust to the side if they accidentally end up on your pizza pie.
The truth is, however, that Americans have only recently been introduced to top-flight anchovies. Europeans have been lustily downing these suckers for years. So much so, in fact, that it may be having an impact on the environment on the other side of the globe:
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the tens of millions of marine birds living in the "Bird Islands of Peru" became famous around the world...A new study published in the current issue of the journal Fisheries Oceanography says the populations of these famous birds have declined dramatically in the last 40 years, largely because the availability of their main food supply, anchovies, once plentiful, has been severely reduced by the Peruvian fishery.
Marine birds aside, I can't imagine a Caesar salad without the traditional briny hit of ocean provided by a few slivers of anchovy. Anchovies possess a lusty richness of texture and intense sea saltiness that makes it an ideal companion to the sweet romaine leaves, garlic, creamy dressing and crisp croutons. In fact, I think that it's the anchovy's ability to match the intensity of sugary roasted peppers or honey-sweet carmelized onions that makes it a must-have in the kitchen.
For example, one of my favorite bruschetta is a simple slice of toasted bread brushed with good olive oil, rubbed with a bit of garlic, topped with a sliced hard-boiled egg, sweet roasted red bell peppers and a criss-cross of anchovies. It's a heavenly Mormon marriage of bready crunch, rich egginess, sweet and slightly blackened veggie goodness to a brackish finish. A palate pleaser to say the least.
Of course, there is also the classic Pissaladi
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