Olasagasti Anchovies Donastiarra
A’intcho Everyday Anchovies
Originally Published: Saturday, March 4, 2023
Specs
Cantabrian delights hide within.Eww... Anchovies?
Today’s selection comes all the way from Spain and features a fish to which many people have strong visceral reactions: anchovies. The most common experience people have with anchovies are the little salty, oily, smelly, greyish-brown bits on their pizzas and pastas. While I personally love the salty punch of a cured anchovy, the experience is off-putting to many.
This canned anchovy promises an entirely different experience from the salt cured fillets and rather presents the ingredients in a method more commonly seen with sardines, their cousins. These anchovies are served a la donostiarra, or in Basque style. This means they’re cooked in olive oil with garlic and cayenne peppers before canning.
Fish cooked in olive oil, garlic, and cayenne. If that sounds like a good time, or at least a better time than little salty pieces of mystery fish, then read on.
What a sight to behold.Alright, I’m Intrigued
As far as I can tell, Olasagasti is a relatively popular brand and is considered pretty high-end even in its homeland. This explains the hefty price tag of $11 CAD. The premium price tag is reflected in the packaging, with glossy printed photos on a matte black background, it certainly looks premium.
Opening the can caused a dollop of the olive oil suspension to dribble out from the rim. The oil was undoubtedly infused with fishy and garlicky essences as the pungent fragrance of the ingredients filled the air. Peeling the lid back revealed a neatly arrayed formation of gutted anchovies in a pool of light-golden liquid. A single garlic clove was hidden amongst the fillets and glistens in the light. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
A cursory taste of a fishy morsel revealed the magic of garlic and chili oil. The spicy funky infusion helped to mellow out the stronger fishy flavours of anchovies, and worked in tandem to augment the savoury experience. There was a good amount of fishiness and metal, but it was never overbearing due to the presence of the spicy oil. Anchovies naturally contained a lot of umami, so there was no lack of that here. A tickle of spice from the cayenne added a little bit of interest. A hint of acidity from wine vinegar rounded off the experience and cleansed the palate for the next bite.
The can had an abundant and unapologetic infusion of allicin (the pungent chemicals present in garlic, not a unique way of spelling Allison) that lingers on your breath after consumption. It was a bit like liquid garlic bread.
The cayenne was hiding on the bottom of the tin.The fish themselves, while not as salty as the jarred variety, still possessed a noticeable amount of sodium. It was not salty to the point where you couldn’t enjoy the product on its own, but it would definitely be better enjoyed with other items that soaked up some of that sodium. The fish had a firm and satisfying meatiness to them and were a pleasure to bite into. They were not as tender as I usually prefer my fish, but they were not overly flaky either.
The fish were expertly deboned as not even a tiny wayward bone could be found. These anchovies were “pan-dressed”, with fins, tail, head, and guts removed. Most of the anchovies I’ve had in the past have been filleted so this more intact preparation was a new experience.
The garlic clove and chunk of chili were soft and mildly sweet, but didn’t have any distinct flavours since most of it was in the oil. The infused olive oil that covered every morsel imparted a woody nuttiness to each bite. Most of the infused garlic chili flavours were suspended in the oil and coated the tongue with each bite. They lingered in the mouth long after the tin is empty.
Your breath will smell like garlicky anchovies for a good long while after consumption. Plan accordingly.
That’s a beautiful spoonful.Small Fry, Big Bite
This is not the stereotypical anchovy experience that one would find on their pizza or in their putanesca. It presents itself as a more premium experience that treats the oily, salty fish as the focal point as opposed to a condiment. I recommend enjoying it as the entrée with some sides, or as the main meat component on a pasta.
The box suggests saving the olive oil to use during cooking and I think that’s an excellent idea. I would use it immediately after opening as the oil component in your salad or pasta and would suggest against preserving it for more than a couple of days. The oil itself is also quite delicious just for dipping bread. A hit of balsamic vinegar would turn the oil into an excellent topping for focaccias or pizzas.
Judging purely by the merits of the fish in the tin, I think the price is a bit dear. It’s no doubt a high quality and interesting product, but at $11 a tin I would expect something quite premium anyway. The added value comes from the 90g of infused olive oil in each tin, which you can use to your heart’s content in any other recipes.
I think it’s a wonderful product that manages to balance salt, fat, acid, heat, and if money was no issue, it would probably be in my regular rotation. As it stands, it’ll be a sometimes treat.
