Anchovies in vinegar are an essential tapa to have at the bar or at the summer beach bar, but who says you can’t prepare them at home and enjoy them on your balcony with a cold beer? To achieve this you don’t need to be an expert cook, just discover the 7 mistakes that can make a raw preparation that is as simple as it is delicate fail. For example, do we have to dilute the vinegar in water? How long should the anchovy be marinated?
Alain Guiard, owner of the Barcelona gastronomic vermouth bar La Mundana, tells us how small differences in preparation can significantly change the texture and flavor of this delicious little fish that is as popular as sardines.
The anchovy is a well-known saltwater blue fish that rises to the sea surface in spring and summer to feed and reproduce. At that moment is when its fat increases and its flavor is more intense, and therefore, the ideal time to eat it. But you have to buy anchovies very fresh. If it is already important to do it regularly with fish, in this case it is an essential condition “because we are not going to cook them with fire and they also have to go through a freezing process,” says Alain Guiard. Elongated, flat and round in shape, these fish are not very large (9 to 20 cm) nor do they weigh too much, just a few grams.
The dreaded anisakis parasite is destroyed when the fish is cooked at a temperature of 60ºC for one minute. In this case, since we are going to eat the anchovy only cooked in vinegar, we must follow the official health prevention regulations of the Ministry of Health. Vinegar kills most microbes – which is why it became a powerful food preservative – but it is not effective against this parasite.
We must freeze the very clean fish at minus 20 ºC for five days. If we do not have a refrigerator that achieves that temperature because it has less than three stars, we have to buy frozen anchovies. Anisakis can cause anything from simple hives to anaphylactic shock, including nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain.
It is essential to clean the anchovies well, not only to avoid parasites and microbes, but also to eliminate parts that can give us unwanted bitter flavors. Cleaning an anchovy is easy because the fish offers no resistance, but it must be done carefully because they are small and fragile. “You just have to remove the head and the belly with your fingers, then with your fingernail you open them at the belly and extract the central spine, to finish with the dorsal ones,” says the chef of La Mundana. Furthermore, if we also bleed the anchovies we can eliminate all the impurities they may have. Guiard advises us to do it: put them in water and ice – “two fingers is enough” – for an hour.
We can choose different types of vinegar to cook the anchovy. From white wine vinegar, sherry vinegar – tastier – or even rice vinegar. Alain Guiard – who uses wine – advises us to reduce the strength of the vinegar with a little water (3/4 vinegar and ¼ water) if we want the anchovy meat to be soft. “I do it because I like the result to be finer, less cooked and less aggressive,” he explains. If we don’t do it this way, our anchovy will absorb more acid, it will be more intense and even drier. It all depends on our taste. The fish must be placed on a tray “very flat”, with the vinegar covering them, but not flooding them. Guiard, who normally prepares 1 kilo at home, adds a pinch of water.
The longer the anchovies are in vinegar, the more cooked they will be. One hour is not the same as three. “Depending on the time that the anchovies spend in contact with the vinegar, we will have a texture and a more or less smooth and soft finish,” explains Alain Guiard, who is committed to not exceeding an hour to ensure that they are not overcooked, and thus giving them a gourmet air. As soon as they have lost the initial reddish tone, they are ready. But not before. If they are still pink they will spoil quickly, they will not last at all in the refrigerator.
For the chef, there is no need to fall short or go overboard: “Having them too many hours means overcooking them, which I consider disrespectful of such a fresh product, which does not need it at all. “That was necessary in the past, when it was used as a conservation method.” But if you are one of those who like more well-done, intense and acidic anchovies, nothing happens. You just have to leave them marinating in vinegar for longer.
Once the marinating period in vinegar is over, we have to drain the anchovies well “so that there is no vinegar left and they continue cooking.” That doesn’t mean we have to put them through water. Not at all. Next, they must be placed crossed in a container covered with an oil that the chef prefers to be sunflower because “if we put extra virgin olive oil, its flavor will predominate too much.” Oil, a powerful shield against pathogens, should never be mixed with vinegar. At this point Guiard seasons the anchovies with salt and pepper to taste.
Anchovies covered in oil cannot be stored at room temperature. Either they are consumed on the day of preparation or we have to put them in the refrigerator. If we have diluted the vinegar in water and cooked it briefly in vinegar, they will last fewer days than if we have kept them in undiluted vinegar for a long time. Pure logic. Alain Guiard, who makes the mildest version, keeps them in the refrigerator for a week without problems. “Although the soft ones have a shorter shelf life, their texture compensates for their much sweeter and more respectful texture with the fish.”
When serving them, Guiard recommends dressing them with a good splash of extra virgin olive oil – “now we are interested in giving them a touch of flavor” – which the chef complements with a few drops of sherry oil. We can also use other aromatic oils, for example garlic and parsley. We can even add candied lemon peels, some olives or the classic garlic and chopped parsley vinaigrette. At La Mundana they served them for a time with a citrus vinaigrette made with mango, lemon, orange and passion fruit.
