Imitation Anchovies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Do not wash or wipe the sprats.
Finely pound and mix the salt, bay salt, saltpetre, prunella salt, and cochineal.
Pack and cure
In a stone pan, layer the sprats and the prepared mixture alternately until full. Press down the layers well and cover the pan tightly.
Let the mixture stand for six months before using.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Fresh sprats
- Provide the fish that is cured and becomes the anchovy-like flesh.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and preserves the fish through the long cure.
- Saltpetre
- Acts as a curing agent that helps preserve colour and firmness in the fish.
- Prunella salt
- Adds fine-grained salting that penetrates the fish evenly during curing.
- Cochineal
- Supplies a red colouring so the cured fish looks like anchovies.
The step that matters
Pressing and sealing the layers. Packing the sprats and salt tightly and covering the pan keeps air out and brine in contact with the fish. Loose layers can allow spoilage during the long cure.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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