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Essence of Anchovies

A preserved anchovy essence made by pounding anchovies, simmering with vinegar or other liquids, adding cayenne pepper, and storing in clarified butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Essence of Anchovies

Ingredients

Directions

Make the essence

  1. Pound the anchovies in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Place them in a clean saucepan with the vinegar or chosen liquid.

  3. Set the saucepan by a slow fire, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes until melted.

  4. Add the cayenne pepper and stir well.

  5. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve using the back of a wooden spoon.

Bottle and store

  1. Bottle and cork securely with a new cork to prevent spoilage.

  2. For storage, press into small jars, cover with clarified butter, and keep in a cool place.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Anchovies
Provide the main savoury, salty flavour and dissolve into a smooth base when melted.
Vinegar
Acts as the liquid that helps the pounded anchovies melt and blend into a smooth essence.
Cayenne pepper
Adds sharp heat that lifts and rounds out the anchovy flavour.

The step that matters

Melting over a slow fire. Heating over a slow fire with frequent stirring melts the anchovies gently and evenly into the liquid. Fierce heat can scorch the fish and make the essence taste burnt and bitter.

“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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