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Drink

Essence of Anchovies

A concentrated anchovy broth made by boiling anchovies in water and straining the liquid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Essence of Anchovies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Remove the bones from the anchovies, keeping some of their liquor.

Make the essence

  1. Mince the anchovies and add them to a pot with 1 pint of water.

  2. Boil the mixture for about 5 minutes until dissolved.

  3. Let it cool, then strain and bottle the essence, sealing it tightly.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

Anchovies
Dissolve into the water to give the essence its concentrated, savoury flavour.
Water
Carries the anchovy flesh and liquor so it can be boiled down and strained into a liquid essence.

The step that matters

Boiling until dissolved. Boiling breaks the anchovies down so their flavour and salt pass into the water. Stopping too early leaves the essence weak and gritty, while boiling too long can make it harsh.

“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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