Anchovies are a typical product of Spanish gastronomy, but not all parts of the country are consumed in the same way.
Today we show you how this food is enjoyed in its different Autonomous Communities.
1. Murcian Marinera
One of the most typical tapas in Murcia is the Murcian marinera.
It is a Russian salad presented on an elongated bread doughnut and garnished with an anchovy on top.
The ingredients for the salad are typical: boiled potatoes and eggs, pickled pickles and carrots, and tuna, all cut into small pieces and mixed together with mayonnaise.
The Murcian touch of the bread doughnut and anchovy at the end is an addition that makes this dish even richer.
It’s delicious!
2. “Pa amb tomàquet” and anchovies
A classic dish of Catalan cuisine is the famous bread with tomato.
Although this tapa is eaten on its own – toasted bread scratched with garlic, slathered with tomato and olive oil and salt – it is actually also used as a base for any type of sausage, cheese, and even canned fish such as albacore tuna and anchovies from Santoña.
3. Recruit
A typical tapa of Andalusia, specifically of Jaén, is the recruit.
It consists of a crouton (bread fried in olive oil) with tomato slices and anchovy fillets.
It can also be eaten as a sandwich, adding another croutons on top.
This is a very simple yet delicious combination of ingredients that we strongly recommend trying.
You won’t regret it!
3. The Gilda
One of the quintessential tapas of the Basque Country is the gilda, a pintxo made of piparras, olives and anchovy fillets. It is said that the pintxo as such originated in the bar “Casa Vallés” in San Sebastian at the end of the 40s. The name was given because of its similarity to the protagonist of a very famous film at the time called “Gilda”, a woman played by actress Rita Hayworth, because like her, she looked “green, salty, and a little spicy”.
4. Anchovies… as is
We could not fail to mention Cantabria, as Santoña anchovies are its regional product par excellence. In this region, anchovies can be consumed in many ways, although it is not uncommon to see how in bars they are eaten “as is”, directly from the can with chopsticks, enjoying the exquisiteness of their flavor without any alteration.
As you can see, part of the richness of our gastronomy is in the thousand ways of being able to integrate the same food into different dishes, providing a wide variety of gastronomic options.
These are just a few ways in which anchovies are consumed in different parts of the country, although there are many more.
Which one do you prefer?