“While Italian Christmas Eve is all about fish, there’s no symbolic number for the Vigilia dinner. It doesn’t matter to Italians if you are having one, or seven, or twelve fishes!” confessed our very own Beatrice to Saveur.
The feast of the seven fishes is an Italian-American tradition, and you should go all for it if that’s what makes you feel the holiday cheer. But whether it’s just one or the whole seven fish ceremony, these salted, chubby, umami, incredible anchovies from the Amalfi Coast belong on the menu.
“Preserved only in sea salt, they’re plump and possibly as close to a hit of pure MSG as you can,” writes Chris Crowley in Grub Street. These anchovies have a cult following, and they deserve a feast of their own!
At Gustiamo we don’t need an excuse to get our hands on an anchovy jar. We have quite the archive when it comes to anchovy-centric recipes:
Roasted cauliflower with almond-anchovy-herb sauce
Sicilian pasta with anchovies + toasted breadcrumbs
Lamb chops with anchovies, capers, and sage
Potato salad with salted anchovies
HOW TO PREP
These anchovies are jarred whole and need to be filleted and rinsed. Let producer Giulio Giordano show you his pro moves with a very blunt how to video staged in his hometown, Cetara.
❄️ STORING TIP
Once you receive them, alici salate are best kept in the refrigerator. They would be safe even outside (sea salt is one of the oldest preservatives, after all), but the cold ensures the best texture.