Marinated anchovies

How to prepare anchovies

Gut and scale anchovies (use a knife is necessary) and throw away their head. Then cut uprightly their belly, bone them, throw away the guts and fillet them. Pay attention, as you don’t have to separate the two half parties of the same fish. Anyway, nowadays many fishmonger’s sell gut and scaled anchovies ready to be marinated. You only have to order them one day in advance or at least in the same morning.
Emulsify in a bowl oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, a clove of garlic and few parsley sprigs fine chopped.

Put in a basin first a bit of the emulsion and then a layer of anchovies. Try and not to separate the two halves. Go on in such a way until you have used all the fish. Let the anchovies marinate for at least 5 hours. Finally the dish is ready to be served.
Marinated anchovies can be prepared both with lemon and vinegar or with an emulsion made up of lemon and vinegar together. In any case the fillets of anchovies get cooked (that is to say they are marinated) thanks to the contact of the fish with the emulsion. If you use lemon, anchovies cook in 3 or 4 hours, while if you use vinegar you need 12 hours.
If you prefer a daintier recipe, where lemon and vinegar flavours are not so strong, you can marinate anchovies in lemon and vinegar and then throw away the liquid, dressing the fish only with the other ingredients. This is a tasteful appetizer that can be served together with crusty slices of bread.

Curiosity
Marinating fish or meat means cover it with an emulsion. As acids are responsible for food cooking, it is essential that you don’t use copperwares or aluminium recipients that release poisonous substances. You’d better use plastic, glass or ceramic basins.