Acciugata - Anchovies Sauce
Region: Tuscany Qty for: 4
Time: 20 minutes Difficulty: Easy


Ingredients
Anchovies in salt: 4
Capers: 1 table spoon
Garlic: 1 clove
Parsley: 1 bunch
Extra-virgin olive oil: 5 table spoons
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Clean, wash and bone the anchovies.
Brown the garlic, squeezed, in a pan (better if earthenware pot) with the
olive oil on a low fire.
Before it goldens, add the anchovies and make them melt using a wooden spoon.
Remove the garlic and add a chopping of parsley and capers, adjust with salt and pepper, well mix again and put out the fire. This sauce is excellent for pasta, legumes and boiled meat.
This sauce is very ancient: the Greeks and particularly the Romans loved
«garum», a sauce very similar to the acciugata. In the past anchovies were used mostly in salt (they say that the name acciuga means salato - in salt
And salt was so expensive, that it was
used as money (the word «salary» comes from the latin word «sale».
So anchovies were used to salt courses, as well as a seasoning.