Secret Ingredient: Anchovies

By Christine Burns Rudalevige
My husband thinks he didn’t start tolerating anchovies – he doesn’t yet put them in the “like” category – until he had a really good one on a pizza in Sicily in February of 2008.  The fact is, he’s been eating them, and dare I say liking them, since he met me in 1992. He just doesn’t know it.  Well, I guess he does now.

I love the salty little guys on any pizza, on top of Caesar salads and occasionally smeared on crusty bread right out of the tin.  But for many of the other eaters in my house, anchovies must be administered a bit more stealthily. Anchovies are the secret ingredient in many of the sautés, sauces and vinaigrettes I make week in, week out.  I didn’t think this one up on my own, folks. This is a classic chefy technique for adding umami (that earthy, salty, meaty undertone of food) to a dish because they balance out flavors and add saltiness to dishes across all Mediterranean cuisines. 

I add oil-packed chopped fillets early enough in the cooking process that they dissolve fully into the hot, finished dish.  If I’m producing an uncooked salad dressing or a salsa, I whiz anchovy paste in the blender with the other liquid ingredients before finishing it off with chopped herbs or chili peppers. 

So while my eaters don’t necessarily notice them in the mix, they do know the food is tasty.  I am OK with being the only one who really knows why.

Flaky White Fish in Tomato, Olive (and Anchovy) Sauce
Serves 4

Everything In Its Place
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon butter
1 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
¼ cup dry white wine (optional)
2 cups chopped canned tomatoes in their juices (I use Pomi, brand)
½ teaspoon sugar
3 sprigs of thyme, two tied with a piece of kitchen twine, one with the leaves removed from the stem
¼ cup pitted black olives (I like oil cured ones, my daughter likes Kalamata)
4 similarly sized, skinless, whitefish fillets (cod, cusk, haddock, hake or pollock) 
Kosher salt and black pepper
Crusty bread or buttered pasta to serve

Directions
Heat oil in a deep skillet (I use my 10-inch cast iron).  Add onion and cook till it is soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).  Stir in garlic and anchovies.  Cook for one minute.  Add tomato paste.  Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  If using wine, add it here.  Cook off all the liquid and add tomatoes and their juices.  Add sugar and the tied up sprigs of thyme.  Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the olives.
Gently slide the fillets into the sauce.  Don’t completely submerge them as they look really pretty peeking out of the top of the sauce when you just put the pan down on the dinner table. Cover the pan loosely and let the fish simmer for 8-10 minutes until the fish is cooked through. Pull the thyme sprigs out of the sauce and sprinkle the loose thyme leaves over it.
Serve immediately with crusty bread or pasta.