‘Between these covers is an anchovy odyssey, a journey in search of a small fish of enormous importance. Fascinating, unexpected and utterly enticing!’ Rachel Roddy
In Consider the Anchovy, food journalist and anchovy lover Sudi Pigott goes on a journey of discovery to find out more about the little fish with the big flavour.
Travelling from Cantabria to California, in this book you will meet the personalities, families and communities whose livelihood depends on the not-so humble anchovy, participating in traditions celebrating the little fish, visiting bars, festivals and even museums devoted exclusively to anchovies. See the flatbottomed barque boats and tightly packed fishermen’s cottages of Collioure that inspired Matisse, Derain and Fauvism. Meet the film star who made a short film on the sex life of the anchovy. Dig into the preserving traditions of Ancient Greece. Uncork the garum of Ancient Rome and compare it to its modern counterpart, Colatura d’Alici, aged in bourbon barrels.
Alongside delicious recipes to close each chapter, this book is rich in research, stuffed with maverick, rakish characters and full of flavour. Whether you love them or you hate them, Consider the Anchovy is both an entertaining odyssey and an unabashedly passionate manifesto that celebrates anchovies with their pungent, complex, umami allure as leading, albeit sometimes unpredictable, movers in world culinary history.
In Consider the Anchovy, food journalist and anchovy lover Sudi Pigott goes on a journey of discovery to find out more about the little fish with the big flavour.
Travelling from Cantabria to California, in this book you will meet the personalities, families and communities whose livelihood depends on the not-so humble anchovy, participating in traditions celebrating the little fish, visiting bars, festivals and even museums devoted exclusively to anchovies. See the flatbottomed barque boats and tightly packed fishermen’s cottages of Collioure that inspired Matisse, Derain and Fauvism. Meet the film star who made a short film on the sex life of the anchovy. Dig into the preserving traditions of Ancient Greece. Uncork the garum of Ancient Rome and compare it to its modern counterpart, Colatura d’Alici, aged in bourbon barrels.
Alongside delicious recipes to close each chapter, this book is rich in research, stuffed with maverick, rakish characters and full of flavour. Whether you love them or you hate them, Consider the Anchovy is both an entertaining odyssey and an unabashedly passionate manifesto that celebrates anchovies with their pungent, complex, umami allure as leading, albeit sometimes unpredictable, movers in world culinary history.
Reviews
Sudi Pigott is perhaps one of the best food writers that I have known in my long career. I love her new book, which is written with passion, very informative and well-researched. The book brought my culinary horizons to new heights and will bring yours as well!
Sudi Pigott has done well to shine a light on the treasures of the anchovy, a nutrient-dense morsel of deliciousness, eat anchovy over farmed salmon any day.
Between these covers is an anchovy odyssey, a journey in search of a small fish of enormous importance. Fascinating, unexpected and utterly enticing!
A beautiful subject and fascinating read from a passionate anchovy missionary
I am fascinated by how Sudi Pigott makes such a research respecting the world of anchovies with so much delicacy towards all the people who are behind
I thought Sudi's passion for food was high until we talked about anchovies! I now realise it is off the scale. One of my favourite ingredients, this book shows us all how varied and wonderful this fish is.