It was around halfway through the taste test, when I’d eaten about a dozen anchovies straight, I realised why I love fishy stuff so much: I’m a maximalist. No one seeking a delicate experience has reached for a jar of anchovies. They’re some of the saltiest and most umami-rich foods you can find on a supermarket shelf.
Throwing them into a recipe is like writing in a death scene for a major character, it doesn’t matter what happened before that point, all stakes have been raised from here on in, which made it tricky for a team of seven taste testers and me – not because each anchovy is too intense (this was one of the most enjoyable taste tests I’ve run) but because of the difficulty of comparing intense things – imagine comparing Carolina reaper chillies, mango pickles or orgasms.
