[Sca-cooks] Re: Anchovette

[Jessica Tiffin]

At 08:17 PM 7/6/05, Adamantius wrote:
>Really? What sorts of fish, if you don't mind my asking?
Mackerel, Cape Herring, pilchards, anchovies.  It also has soya protien in 
it, which I left out of the previous list.

>for the most part, the anchovy
>hasn't made much headway into American cookery, at least not in this
>century.
Interestingly, I wouldn't say it was central to South African cuisine, 
either, although most supermarkets stock several versions and most pizza 
places will cheerfully alienate your friends for you by supplying anchovies 
on pizza.  I suspect anchovette is one of those weird decadent foodways 
we've inherited from the British :>.

>(and Caesar Salad in its
>original form has almost completely vanished in favor of something
>_called_ Caesar Salad, but which is merely lettuce with croutons,
>grated Parmigiano and a non-descript creamy "Caesar
>Dressing" [pfooey! double-bleh pfooey!]).
Ah.  Caesar salad being one of my favourites, I am in a position to say 
that probably two-thirds of the restaurants in Cape Town, at any rate, 
still put whole anchovies in them.  Although whether you get proper caesar 
dressing or a mere mayonnaise is more of a lottery.

>Essentially, it sounds like what you're describing as anchovy paste
>is a prepared food, rather than what we'd think of as an ingredient.
>Perhaps the difference is not on the same scale as the difference
>between tinned tuna and prepared tuna salad, but there will certainly
>be differences in relative properties.
Yes, pretty much; this stuff is called "Anchovette", after all, suggesting 
that it's a mere diminutive or adulteration of the One True Anchovy. It's 
not an ingredient, it's a spread.   And after all this discussion, I'm 
_really_ craving anchovy toast.  (I don't personally like it on sandwiches 
- must be hot toast and melted butter).

>What, ME get into a long and endlessly detailed conversation about
>food anthropology? Never!
And it's not even as though this forum contains like-minded people who 
would possibly encourage you!  for shame!

JdH

Baroness Jehanne de Huguenin (Jessica Tiffin) - cook, herald, musician, 
whatever
Shire of Adamastor, Cape Town, South Africa
melisant at iafrica.com ***  http://users.iafrica.com/m/me/melisant
A wonderful bird is the Pelican, / His beak can hold more than his belly can.
He can hold in his beak enough food for a week,
and I'm damned if I see how the hell he can.  (Spike Milligan)