Anchovy Butter

I love anchovies. They're a small, silvery salt-water fish found in the mild waters of the Med, and the warmer reaches of the Atlantic. The Romans were crazy about them and used them extensively in their cooking. The anchovies we're used to in Britain are cured in salt, and then packed in olive oil- which gives them a powerful, extremely salty flavour. Last summer when I was on holiday in Positano, I sampled the unsalted local variety- arranged simply on a plate with torn basil leaves and olive oil; and my god, they were good.

So today, I've come up with an oh-so-simple recipe for anchovy butter. You can use it with fish, or just simply spread it on your toast; and if warmed up gently, it would make an excellent sauce.

In a mixing bowl mash up a pat of slightly soft unsalted butter (ie taken out of the 'fridge for a bit). It's important to use unsalted butter, otherwise the dish is going to be far too salty. Generally, I use unsalted butter anyway in my food, as it leaves you to decide how much salt to put in at the end of the cooking period.

With a fork, mash in your anchovies. When they've been combined, add a squeeze of lemon juice. The lemon juice acts as a balance, and will help to smooth out the salt. I think a dash of ground mace or cayenne pepper would be work well here too. Finally, pack the anchovy butter into small ramekin dishes and keep it in the 'fridge.

Comments

[Christine]

Can you possibly be more specific with the amounts of butter and anchovies you used? Or just the proportions of the two would be helpful. Am very much enjoying your blog!

[The Greasy Spoon]

Christine

Thanks for your comment. The fun thing with this sort of recipe, is that it's totally up to the person making it. It all depends on how salty you want it to be. In my case, I would probably mash in about six small anchovies to a packet of butter. Experiment, and you should get it right the second or third attempt.

[joy]

I heat this butter/anchovy sauce over low heat and then pour over cooked fish (if you don't have unsalted butter you can use 1/2 olive oil) and it is SO good with chopped parsley and a little garlic mixed in as well.