Anchoïade
A rough, intensely flavoured paste of anchovies, garlic, capers, and olive oil, served in a bowl with grilled bread and raw vegetables for dipping. Strong, salty, deeply savoury, this is Provençal aperitif food at its most honest!
Ingredients
For the anchoïade
- 100 gr anchovy fillets
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp capers
- 80 ml olive oil extra virgin
- 25 ml lemon juice
- black pepper
- raw vegetables carrots, celery, cucumber, radishes, fennel, cherry tomatoes
Equipment
- mortar and pestle or food processor
Instructions
1. Prepare the garlic and capers
- Split each garlic clove and remove the green germ from the centre. Rinse the capers thoroughly under cold water and drain.
2. Pound the garlic
- In a mortar, pound the garlic to a smooth paste with a pinch of salt.
3. Add the anchovies and capers
- Add the anchovy fillets a few at a time, pounding until you have a rough, textured paste. Work in the capers.
4. Work in the oil
- Pour in the olive oil gradually, working it into the paste with the pestle until you have a loose, slightly chunky sauce.
5. Season and taste
- Add the lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Taste before adding any salt, the anchovies will almost certainly have done that job already.
6. Toast the bread
- Heat a grill pan until very hot. Brush the baguette slices with olive oil on both sides and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden with char marks. While still hot, rub each slice with the cut side of a garlic clove.
7. Serve
- Spoon the anchoïade into a small bowl and scatter over parsley if using. Arrange the toasts and raw vegetables around it. Serve immediately while the toasts are still warm.
Notes
- Using a food processor: Pulse the anchovies, garlic and capers in short bursts until broken down but still textured. Add the olive oil in a thin stream with the motor running, then the lemon juice and pepper. Don't over-process, anchoïade should have body rather than being a smooth mousse.
- Rinse the capers well, or the vinegar overwhelms everything else.
- Degerming the garlic removes the bitter green shoot from the centre. Worth 30 seconds.
- Reboul's original calls for only anchovy, garlic, capers and olive oil. The lemon and parsley here are additions.
- Don't salt without tasting first. Almost every time, none is needed.
- Keeps several days in the fridge, covered with a thin layer of olive oil to stop it oxidising.