Salting anchovies was a method of dealing with a glut of these cheap and abundant fish in the days before refrigeration. Around the Tuscan islands and the coast, there are a million uses for them and this sauce, which is a traditional preparation on Giglio Island, is just one – but the sauce in itself has a further million uses.
I could put it on just about anything. If you’re an anchovy-lover like me, you could start by putting it on toast, or tossing through steaming, boiled potatoes, or even as a quick solution to dressing some freshly boiled pasta. Anchovies and cauliflower is a match made in heaven, no matter how they’re combined. The options are only limited to your imagination, though you might see the pattern – anchovies add a boost of flavour to anything that is rather neutral or even perhaps creamy in nature.
Naturally, anchovies are wonderful on eggs in any form. I grew up in the 1980s when devilled eggs were a fixture at gatherings and parties, and I am still partial to the rather old-fashioned but foolproof halved boiled eggs on a platter. Topping boiled eggs with a spoonful of this anchovy sauce is my favourite combination, but a spoonful folded through scrambled eggs makes an incredible breakfast or lunch, too.