I saw the headline of the source post on today’s offering and thought: “I’d love it, if this really works!” I usually eschew anchovies – because of their fishy taste. It was hate at first sight. But I might love them if I could have only the rich, earthy, umami part…
Chef Vince doesn’t explicitly tell us how the anchovies exert their exotic flavour and richness in this classic Neapolitan dish without tasting fishy. But I’ve performed my own detailed analysis. And I think I’ve nailed it… Not only that, but folks who hate capers and black olives will also find the chemistry behind this dish informative…
Classic Spaghetti alla Natalina
It’s an old, typical regional take on Italy’s ubiquitous Spaghetti from Naples. Chef Vince likes to call Neapolitan food… delicate. Which means the ingredients and flavours are always well balanced and complementary. And that may be the first secret to making the anchovies in this dish shine.
Among the additional interesting features of this sauce are the absence of any Parmesan or Peccor-rino in the dish. It’s thickened by the addition of pasta water alone, plus the renderings of the in-gredients, including ample tomatoes and other components that literally melt into a delicious blanket that wraps the pasta in a loving embrace.
Savour the creation…
This dish takes some fuss and some time to mature properly. No picky techniques or touchy timings involved, though. So you can relax and enjoy the act of creating this pasta as if you were painting the Mona Lisa…
Standing over the simmering pan, you’ll experience a series of increasingly umamiful moments as the ingredient after ingredient is added culminating in the final sumptuous result.
What you do…
DO watch the video above for all the juicy details of the recipe and its preparation. But the recipe post contains all the instructions you’ll need when you’re making it yourself…
One key to perfecting this wonderful dish is patience. You can’t rush the sauce. In the video, Chef Vince demonstrates the laid-back attitude you should adopt to cook ‘Neapolitan’ authentically!
About those anchovies…
Typically, this dish calls for only 2 anchcovy fillets. But they pack a lot of flavour. One reason many folks don’t like anchovies is, they’ve had dishes (likely pizzas) with too many anchovies on top. That delivered enough undercooked anchovy flavour to put you off them for life! And that’s the first secret to non-fishy anchovies. Same as for sardines. Once you’ve cooked them properly, the fishy oils are neut-ralized.
But there’s more to ‘properly’ than just the cooking. And I maintain that Spaghetti alla Natalina em-bodies all the ways you can tame the fishiness of anchovies.
The underlying issue with anchovies is their native oiliness. And the acid in the tomato products, the raisins, and even the nuts can help break own those aromatic oils without affecting the other flav-ours anchovies have to offer. The acid can also moderate and mollify the aspects of the stronger flavours in capers and black olives you might not appreciate.
Finally… I also believe – after actually tasting this sauce – that the sweetness of the raisins plays a role in pushing the fishiness of the anchovies into the background…
My take
If you’ve been an anchovy hater up to now… I hope this post marks a watershed moment in your relationship with them. Chef Vincenzo’s Spaghetti alla Natalina certainly turned me around 180 degrees!
~ Maggie J.