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Drink

Essence of Anchovies

A liquid made by boiling anchovies and their liquor in water.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the anchovies

  1. Chop the anchovies and remove the bones.

  2. Strain the anchovies, keeping some of their liquor.

Make the essence

  1. Add the anchovies and liquor to the water.

  2. Boil gently until dissolved, about a few minutes.

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

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
Supply the salty, savoury flavour that the water picks up and carries into the essence.

The step that matters

Boil gently until dissolved. A gentle simmer draws flavour out of the anchovies without a hard boil, which can evaporate too much liquid and make the essence taste harsh or concentrated.

“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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