Salted Anchovies

Appears in
Glorious French Food
Glorious French Food

By James Peterson

Published 2002

  • About

Because for years cooking-obsessed friends had been telling me that salted anchovies were far better than those that come packed in oil in little jars or cans, I went to my favorite fancy food shop several times to buy anchovies packed in salt. But the anchovies were always too strong and fishy. Finally I made the essential discovery that if you want anchovies packed in salt you must buy a whole unopened can (see Sources), desalt them, and repack them in extra-virgin olive oil.

If you’re desalting anchovies for the first time, you’ll probably want to buy the smallest amount you can, which is 600 grams, about 1¼ pounds. Cut the top off the pretty blue can and soak the whole can in a big bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes to loosen the salt. Rinse under cold running water to dissolve more salt and then turn the can over and shake it to get the anchovies to come out in one big clump. Soak the clump in a bowl of fresh water for about 10 minutes, then gently pull away the anchovies—don’t force them or they’ll tear—one by one. Soak the anchovies in another bowl of fresh water for about 20 minutes.