The Anchovy Sandwich Rage

In January most foodies are clamoring to know what hot, new, trendy things they should be eating in the new year.  I heard about this one from my friend and Italian food authority, Michele Scicolone: an anchovy sandwich.

According to Michele, this is her preferred snack of the moment: “A thick slice of toasted bread topped with an anchovy and a curl of cold, sweet butter.” While many Americans people are just discovering this sweet, salty, epitome-of-umami taste experience, it’s been around for a long time in Italy as a popular appetizer, according to Michele. However, she claims it’s having a rise in popularity again in Italy while at the same time swimming its way across to America.

This slippery little fish, rich in fatty acids, B vitamins and minerals, is cropping up on Italian restaurant menus here such as the trendy Via Carota in New York City. In San Francisco, it’s even the namesake of a popular restaurant, The Anchovy Bar on O’Farrell Street.

Michele’s describes two of her favorite anchovy sandwich experiences from a recent trip to Italy. “It was at a favorite wine bar in Florence, Le Volpi e L'Uva. It was a miniature brioche roll, spread with sweet butter, a very thin slice of sweet Amalfi lemon and Cantabrian anchovies.  Perfection!  

“The second favorite was at a fish restaurant, also in Florence, called Burro e Acciughe, Butter and Anchovies.  This was a slice of toasted whole grain bread slathered with cold sweet butter and topped with a Cantabrian anchovy filet. It was crunchy and creamy, hot and cold, sweet and salty.  Different from the first but also very delicious.”  

Beware.  Michele is not describing any old anchovy out of a tin can. While excellent ones come from Italy’s regions of Campania, Liguria, Sardinia and Sicily, the anchovies food aficionados are raving about are fished off the Bay of Biscay in Cantabria, Spain.  They are expensive ($2 for each minuscule filet) as the best ones are fished between April and June, when they are at peak quality, instantly processed and salted. Next, they are matured for eight months, then hand filleted and repacked in olive or sunflower oil.

I found anchovies from Cantabria at Ideal Cheese Shop in my neighborhood under the brands of Olasagasti and El Capricho.  Another one to look for is Don Bocarte.  Michele gets hers at an Italian grocery store for considerably less than the $9.95 price tag I paid for five tiny but delicious fillets.

No recipe is required, just a top-quality anchovy, the best possible sweet butter you can find (I like Beurre d‘Isigny, Doux from Brittany) and a toasted bread of your choice. 

Wine recommendation: To accompany these salty little gems try an ultra-crisp white wine such as Muscadet, Greco di Tufo, Albariño, or a bone-dry rosé from Provence.  Sparkling wine such as a dry Spumante or Prosecco is also a good choice.  For fun, serve a Fino or Manzanilla sherry or a dry Vermouth.  You won’t be sorry if you think outside the box for this food-wine combination.

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