The anchovy is the Marmite of the aquatic world. Love it or hate it, neutrality isn’t an option. Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, found them repulsive. Horace was pithier: “They stink.” But Christopher Beckman, horror film producer turned food historian, swears by them. A Twist in the Tail is his delightful tribute to this diminutive fish.
The anchovy’s reputation, he argues, precedes it. Taste is another matter. Try subtly incorporating some anchovies into an unsuspecting friend’s dinner, and the chances are they wouldn’t notice them. But they may well find the meal more delicious. For anchovies are exploding with umami, that moreish, flavourful “fifth taste”, in marked contrast to the common four: sweet, sour, salty, bitter. It all comes down to “free glutamates”. Most meats and vegetables contain around 100mg of them per 100g. Cured meats, such as prosciutto, and sun-dried tomatoes push that figure to 300-700. At 1,200, anchovies are “umami bombs” dropped on the tongue’s glutamate receptors.
