Pasta with anchovies: an ancient Italian recipe.

Pasta with anchovies is a simple dish that, along with many others, represents Italian tradition. This recipe can be considered historical, as its origins date back to ancient times.
 

Pasta with anchovies: legend and history of the fish 

The anchovy is therefore the star of this flavorful and tasty dish, and its name derives from the vulgar Latin "Apiuva", while the scientific term comes from Greek and is called "engraulis encharsicolus".
The origin of this bony sea fish belonging to the family Engraulidae is tied to a legend, according to which, in ancient times, anchovies were petulant stars, so obsessive that they annoyed the moon. For this reason, God decided to punish them by casting them to the bottom of the sea, where they retained the silvery color of the stars, but fell silent forever, becoming prey to man.

The fishing of anchovies has been present since ancient times, and the first written records concerning it refer to the “Deipnosophistarum sive coema sapientum”, a book on food written by a certain Athenaeus in the 2nd century AD, which recalls the most common foods in Ancient Greece, where anchovies were eaten with peas and with sea nettle.

However, it is thanks to a sauce that there is direct evidence of the processing of anchovies in Greece, the Garon, which was later introduced during the Punic Wars to Rome and was called Garum. There are writings and cookbooks that testify to the presence and use of this sauce to season fish, meat, and many other dishes.
The anchovy thus acquires great economic importance, and its industry becomes a rich source of profit.
In the Augustan age, the major qualitative and quantitative production came from Spain.
 

The Cantabrian anchovies

How can we not mention the famous Cantabrian anchovies? They are now famous on a global level and are one of the gastronomic specialties of Spain, but not everyone knows that their origins are intertwined with Italian fishermen.

Until the end of the 19th century, however, these anchovies did not have such great importance. Fishermen used them as bait to catch other fish.
In Italy, on the other hand, this fish was already very famous and in demand, to the point that the supply could not meet the demand. Moreover, Italians, especially the Sicilians, were experts in salting and preserving anchovies.

It is precisely thanks to the experience of Sicilian fishermen who emigrated to Cantabria in search of fish to commercialize that the Spaniards learned how to fish and process anchovies, how to salt and preserve them.
Thanks to Italian fishermen, Santoña became the hub of a new economy.
 

Pasta with anchovies: a completely Italian recipe

The great economic importance of the anchovy market in Italy has undoubtedly led to the consumption of this fish in many recipes. One of the most famous is indeed the pasta with anchovies!

A popular recipe is the Sicilian "spaghetti alla siracusana", also known as "fried pasta alla siracusana". For the creation of this dish, garlic is sautéed with extra virgin olive oil and anchovies, while separately, spaghetti are cooked in plenty of salted water. Separately, the breadcrumbs are toasted in a pan. Finally, the pasta is combined with the anchovies and sprinkled with toasted breadcrumbs.
During the long periods of famine, in the past, there was a custom of mixing breadcrumbs with food to give a sense of fullness, so much so that it was often also used instead of cheese to season pasta. This custom has carried over to the present, although fortunately, the reason is no longer the same: breadcrumbs give the dish a decided tone and a certain crispness, perfectly blending the flavors!

The most well-known variation of this dish with strong flavors involves the frying of the spaghetti. They can be cooked separately and then fried in a pan before being combined with the anchovies, or one can use leftover pasta, thus giving it a new texture.
Spaghetti alla siracusana in some recipes also includes tomato, whether in the fried version or the normal one. Some also add chili pepper.

Another recipe for a fresh and tasty first course is the Neapolitan one of "Spaghetti with salted anchovies," which replaces breadcrumbs with crumbled Neapolitan tarallo and adds a sprig of fresh parsley, a real delicacy!
It’s also worth trying the same recipe, but with Cantabrian anchovies!

Even in the north, the pasta with anchovies dish is very popular, although the preparation involves using sardines or herring, which, despite their similar flavor, belong to a different family, that of Clupeidae.
Thus, we have the famous "Pasta e Renga" from Veneto, which adds diced potatoes to the Sicilian recipe in the water of the pasta, and the "Bigoli with sardines", or bigoi with sardèe, made with egg pasta, namely bigoli, and a sardine sauce under salt.

Here are all the variations of pasta with anchovies, typical of various Italian regions. This dish is rich in flavors, but it is also a simple dish, given its "poor" origins. A dish that originates from the past, featuring a fish that has been very important in history since ancient times but is also contemporary!
Today, the recipe is widely spread and used, and when cooking it, we can unleash our creativity by creating many variations, depending on our tastes.
The upside is that we have the opportunity to easily find the ingredient, for example, in the selection of Spaghetti&Mandolino!

S&M