The Tinned Fish 25 · No. 18 of 25

  1. Cantabrian Anchovy Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Don Bocarte No.18Photo: Mercado Central NYC

    Anchovies and small fish · Spain

    Cantabrian Anchovy Fillets in Extra Virgin Olive Oil

    From Don Bocarte · Santoña, Cantabria

    Cured, in olive oilNot spicy$16 a tin

    From Santoña, the Cantabrian town famous for anchovies. Big fillets cured and cleaned by hand, six or seven to a small tin. Keep it in the fridge.

    This is what anchovies are supposed to taste like: meaty and sweet, not a salt bomb.

    Eat it withButtered toastTomatoesA Gilda with olives and guindilla peppers
    Order from Mercado Central NYC ↗

    Don Bocarte doesn't sell this tin direct here, so the button goes to Mercado Central NYC, a shop that carries it.

    Chef's quick recipe

    Anchovy, butter and tomato toast

    5 min · 2 toasts · Cold butter and good anchovies is the whole recipe. The tomato is there for juice.

    Save to my recipes

    You need

    • 1 tin Don Bocarte anchovy fillets
    • 2 slices good bread
    • 2 tbsp cold salted butter
    • 1 ripe tomato, halved
    • Black pepper
    • A few chives or parsley leaves

    How to make it

    1. Toast the bread until crisp.
    2. Rub the cut tomato over the hot toast so it soaks in, then discard the skin.
    3. Shave the cold butter thinly over the toast.
    4. Lay 3 anchovies on each. Finish with pepper and herbs. Eat right away, before the butter melts.

    Chef's own recipe, in our words, built around the tin. It isn't Don Bocarte's.

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← No. 17 Los PeperetesNo. 19 Real Conservera Española →

How to buy a good tin. Look for the fish named on the front (sardines, not "fish"), olive oil rather than "vegetable oil", and a cannery's name and town on the back.

Keep it. Most tins last years in a cool cupboard, and sardines in oil get better with a year or two. Anchovies are the exception: keep them in the fridge.

Serve it. Warm oily fish a little (stand the closed tin in hot tap water for 5 minutes). Chill shellfish in escabeche for 10 minutes. Always keep the oil: it's the sauce.

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Don Bocarte didn't pay to be here. Order goes straight to Mercado Central NYC. The recipe is Chef's own, in our words.

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