Gourmands of Datalounge: thoughts on anchovies in pasta sauce?

Follow the recipe the first time you make it: 3 anchovy filets, not the whole can.

It's delicious!

Yes I hate seafood too but I love anchovies, go figure. Unless you put far too many, you will only notice the savoriness. I did just that and my eldergay who hates anchovies, thought it was very good, and didn't believe it had them.

OP - I'm not a connaisseur of anchovies but I was surprised to eat something (sorry, cannot remember what it was) a while back and it was incredible. Delicious, aromatic, and completely added to the dish. When I found out what it actually was, of course I was grossed out. But to actually eat anchovies, to see them splayed out in front of me, no thanks. Plus the full flavour of eating them whole would be foul. To me, this is like escargots. I can't even imagine it.

LOVE it

italian MSG

Thanks r1, my initial plan had been to do a slow cooked tomato marinara sauce, in a big pot, do you think throwing the whole can of anchovies in is too much? Will probably try anchovy paste next time since it stores so much more easily.

Anchovies and Sardines are given a bad rap. It can absolutely be a great ingredient - IN MODERATION.

I think people have this idea of anchovie pizza from years ago which was never a big thing anyway.

You can not make authentic Cesar dressing without the anchovy . It just adds a note of funk and you do not want to add too much . You can buy the paste.

Puttanesca is one dish where you kinda will taste that fishy flavor.

More likely than not, your partner has probably had marinara (or red sauce) at an Italian restaurant which include anchovies as a secret ingredient. It gives a nice salty boost, which otherwise goes undetected.

Stop threatening to throw in a whole can. If you need to, store the leftover anchovies in a glass jar (or plastic container you are happy to never use for anything else) in the fridge.

No mercury for me, thanks!

Thank you all, this is why I love datalounge.

Anchovies have a strong taste. Follow the recipe.

If you're going to use anchovies, I'd suggest not tricking your partner.

Anchovy paste is very handy if you ever break your anchovy. It's a lot better than anchovy tape, I find.

I wouldn't use a whole can, just a few, always go light and add more.

OP, what I do in this situation is use anchovy paste, which you can get at a gourmet grocery store. It will work in place of anchovy parts and it disappears into the sauce, so it won't bother people who dislike the idea of eating little fish (which is really what dislike of anchovies comes down to, because it's a fairly neutral salty-savory taste).

Abomination if you fail to disclose to guests. On your own plate/no guests, knock yourself out. But some people have fish allergies or mercury sensitivity and would want to know before ingesting.

Dial it down, r17.

How many people in this world have fish allergies or mercury sensitivity?

People who hate fish think they taste it in everything. He will taste the anchovy and he will throw the dish in your face, As he should.

How many of your guests' lives do you want to risk, R18?

Maybe I'll get lucky and can wipe some out, r20.

Darwin, you know.

I sometimes have pasta puttanesca when I have a craving for it. The anchovies stink while they're cooking but they taste really good.

My understanding is that "whore's pasta" is basically an aphrodisiac. The spicy ingredients are supposed to tickle your urethra and give you a nice stiffy.

Anchovies, like sardines, contain a miniscule amount of mercury compared to fish like tuna, because being so tiny they are very low on the food chain and only accumulate tiny amounts of mercury. There is virtually no risk of mercury poisoning in consuming them.

OP, a whole can of anchovies would be way too much, even for me, who loves them. Use only the amount called for by your recipe and store the rest -- R10 suggests transferring them to a glass or plastic container and keeping in the refrigerator, which is fine -- but I prefer keeping them in the freezer. If you freeze them, be sure to include the oil from the can, which freezes fine and can be used later to saute garlic, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, etc.

At the link is a site that discusses subbing anchovy paste for fillets and vice versa -- 1 teaspoon paste = 2 fillets.

OP, for Christ's sake follow a decent recipe, too.

And no one is better than Marcella Hazan on this.

Oh, and ignore the twat who says that anchovies are needed for an "authentic" Caesar salad. I use anchovy in mine, but the man who created the salad, Caesar Cardini, did not. And his family has been adamant about that fact ever since, in case people would forget. But obviously "experts" don't bother with actuality.

Anchovy or anchovy paste is like less potent fish sauce. I actually prefer to use it as substitute over Vietnamese fish sauce when I cook southeast Asian food.

R26, the difference between anchovies or paste and the Asian sauce is that the sauce is made from anchovies that have been fermented. That may be why the sauce is more pungent, which I agree is the case.

If it's good enough for the whores of Naples, it's good enough for this Witchita Falls whore!

I think anchovy paste is disgusting and a poor substitute for actual anchovies.

[quote]Stop threatening to throw in a whole can. If you need to, store the leftover anchovies in a glass jar (or plastic container you are happy to never use for anything else) in the fridge.

It's easier to just buy them in the jar and pull out the number you need . . .

R25, I'm surprised nobody has aspired to cook all of Signora Hazan's recipes a la Julie Powell yet. A videographic Julie & Julia gimmick for the Youtube times...

OP To me this sounds delicious, but then I love anchovies. I think it would be cruel to unleash them on a seafood hater.

R25 I have had many Cesar salads and made with anchovy there is a huge difference , you miss are a persnickety little bitty twat.

Try anchovy stuffed olives, they're orgasmic for real.

r30 r25 I don't think Marcella ever added anchovies to her tomato sauce #3 (tomato, butter, onion). I think it was an "adaptation" by DIXIELRN on that website. It is dated 2019, well after Marcella's death in 2013. Somehow, mixing anchovies and butter in a sauce just seems—well, not like something Marcella would do. I can imagine anchovies, tomato, and olive oil, but butter?

I may be wrong. I don't know for sure.

R34, anchovies and a pat of butter (at the end) are probably the two most common 'secret' ingredients to add to the sauce. I've used both together -- it's good!