Product Review

Many people vow they do not like anchovies: too many memories of smelly little fish on pizza or in Caesar salad have poisoned their experience. But, point of fact, these little fish, small warm water relatives of the herring, pack a huge punch of flavor that acts as a backbone for many Italian recipes.

The anchovies you find at Gustiamo come exclusively from Cetara, one of those enchanting fishing villages along the Amalfi coast, on the Gulf of Salerno.

Nettuno, our trusted anchovies and colatura producer, is a family-run company started in 1945; its production is completely handmade and inspired by the simple but precise rules of the area anchovy preserving traditions.

The best anchovies are caught bewteen March and July when their flesh is at its most plump. Fresh anchovies are immediately placed in oak barrels layered with water and sea salt and cured for about 5 months. The sea salt utilized by our producer is not just any industrial salt from Italy's State Monopoly, but the exceptional salt hand-harvested in the salt panes of Trapani from uncontaminated Sicilian waters.

The anchovies are soft, moist and plump. Make sure to rinse them thoroughly in cold water to remove the salt used for preservation. Then put them too use.

Once opened, store jar of remaining anchovies in the refrigerator.