Food Lens · Canned
Anchovies
Intensely salty and savory with a deep, oceanic umami that mellows once cooked.
Lens analyzedAnchovies are small, oily fish cured in salt and packed in oil or brine, prized for the intense savory, salty punch they add to sauces and dressings. Cooked into a dish, they dissolve into a background umami rather than tasting distinctly fishy. A tin usually holds far more flavor per fillet than its small size suggests.
Where it comes from
Salt-curing small fish is an ancient preservation method around the Mediterranean, where anchovies became a foundation for sauces going back to Roman fish sauces like garum. They remain central to Italian, Spanish, and French cooking, from puttanesca to Caesar dressing to anchoïade.
Buying it
Choose tins or jars packed in good-quality olive oil for the best flavor, and check that fillets look intact rather than broken into mush. Salt-packed anchovies need rinsing and filleting before use but offer a firmer texture.
Storing it
Store an unopened tin in the pantry, where it keeps for about two years; refrigerate opened anchovies covered in oil and use them within a few weeks.
Keeps about 2 years in the pantry.
Recipes that use anchovies
More canned
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