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Essence of Anchovies

A preserved anchovy condiment made by crushing anchovies, simmering with vinegar and spices, then straining and bottling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Vinegar and sherry work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 660 recipes. Both carry 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Essence of Anchovies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pound the anchovies in a mortar to a pulp.

  2. Place the pulp in a clean saucepan with vinegar, sherry, brandy, or mushroom catsup.

Make the essence

  1. Set the saucepan by a slow fire, stirring frequently until the fish melts, about 5 minutes.

  2. Add cayenne pepper and stir well.

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

Store

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

  2. For long-term 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 + sherrytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together660 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

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

  3. Sherry + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

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

What each ingredient does

Anchovies
Melt down into the liquid, providing the savory, salty depth that defines the essence.
Vinegar
Acts as the liquid base and adds acidity that helps break down the fish into a smooth essence.
Cayenne pepper
Adds heat and a sharp, pungent note to balance the salty fish flavor.

The step that matters

Melting the fish over a slow fire. Heat must be low and stirring frequent so the anchovies dissolve gently into the liquid. Too much heat can scorch the fish, giving a bitter, burnt flavor that spoils the essence.

“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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