Cookaholics Bulletin Board

The last time I was at the Italian deli in SF (Molinari's), they had something I'd never seen before: salted anchovy filets. These are small oily fish preserved in dry salt like the standard canned ones we love so much as a foundation for pasta sauces. However, these little suckers were filetted before being salted down, and are sold in "sheets" of little filets.

I've been using them for a couple months now, and they seem to have all the benefits and uses of salted anchovies, without the issue of little bits of anchoy spine or tail in the food. And, best, they were only a couple bucks more than standard salted anchovies. Anyone else seen these?

I've never seen those, but would like to find some. What brand are they, or were they just sold in bulk? I only used salted anchovies once, and did not like all the extra work to filet them for the amount of extra flavor I got. I'll have to check out the stores in the Italian market for those.

Dave,

I bought them in bulk, I'm afraid. You know what? 8oz of salted anchovy filets lasts a long time.

When I lived in NY I bought them that way. And yes, 8 oz. lasts quite a while. Beware though, even though they're preserved by the salt, they can still go bad. You'll know it by the salt. If it gets at all funky, they're no good anymore.

Amy

HI,

DiGregorio's in St. Louis allows you to pick your whole anchovies from their gallon can. The opportunity for filets sounds great.

I taught my 10 year old nephew how to filet a fish using a salted anchovy.

Tim