Interview by Holly O'Neill 

Phil Howard’s secret ingredient – tinned anchovies

Not everyone likes them – but they add punch to a plate of food
  
  

Canned seafood - anchovy fillet in oil on wooden surface

Anchovies can be a bit divisive; not everyone thinks they like them. That’s perhaps because they know really cheap anchovies, which can be challenging: incredibly salty, very strong. Good anchovies, however, are special. In a tin, that’s where they are best; salted, preserved in oil.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re eating them on a hunk of bread with cold butter, or laying a couple across a pizza; melting a few into a sauce to toss through pasta with garlic, or in a salad. Nice anchovies add the most amazing flavour and punch to a plate of food.

You either want to taste the anchovy in all its glory, or use it as a contributory seasoning. There are dressings such as bagna cauda, using red or white wine, plus garlic and anchovy. Adding a couple to a sauce is fantastic to give background umami and flavour. Certainly for more of a Mediterranean feel, you could drop them into a lamb sauce.

But I am more about celebrating anchovies than hiding them in things. They are a phenomenal ingredient and can really transform a dish.

Phil Howard is the co-owner of Elystan Street and co-founder of Notto

 

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