3-Way Anchovies

Anchovies Baked in the Oven

Anchovies before I lived in Andalusia I knew only as Ikan Bilis. Yes, the air-dried smelly but very delicious once-cooked ones. But in Spain you find the fresh ones easily at the fish monger's and they also eat them canned or in jars (preserved in oil) so I've also gotten into eating my anchovies fresh since.

Yesterday we visited the weekly Monday market in Modena with MIL. She saw some fresh anchovies and expressed desire to have them. Being the ahem devoted DIL that I am, I promptly bought nearly a Kilo of the good stuff and had them prepared in 3 different ways being unable to decide on just one cooking method.

So last evening we had the anchovies

1. Grilled on the BBQ with some herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper
   
   
Before being grilled


2. Baked in the oven with olive oil, fresh red chilli, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper


3. Fried in Tempura batter
   
   

Tempura Alici

Everybody liked Method Number 2 best. Needless to say, fresh lemon should hang around waiting to be squeezed generously over the anchovies. We accompanied them with a freshly tossed baby spinach and rucola salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.