Anchovies (Olasagasti)
Melbourne is mad about anchovies, the distinct savoury flavour-bombs, with fatty, salty, even meaty savoury flavour: delicious on pizza, indispensable in a tapenade, beautiful in a classic Spanish pintxos, a Caesar salad, a french style cheese tart, a salad Niçoise, a sandwich or breakfast eggs, and adding umami depth into distinctive sauces, rubs, dressings, and dips.
Our Olasagasti anchovies are generous, meaty fillets in a delicious olive oil brine. Their gentle salting is balanced with olive oil to make a delightful, clean filleted anchovy. Warning: they are extremely moreish!
F&B supplies the anchovies, finely hand processed and packed in olive oil brine, for food service in tins just over 1kg. There are 120-140 fillets in the tin. F&B also supplies Olasagasti's white anchovies - these anchovies are salted for a short time and then pickled in olive oil and vinegar. Ask us about the beautiful Olasagasti anchovy paste - approaching 2020 the Gentleman's Relish is alive and well!
Olasagasti anchovies are produced by a specialist fishing business belonging to two families, those of Carlos Dentici and Salvatore Orlando. Since the 1920's, the families have been devoted to the traditional, artisan ways of producing and preserving the highest quality fish from the Bay of Biscay.
Olasagasti is located next to the port of Ondarroa, between Bilbao and San Sebastian on Spain’s Bay of Biscay (Cantabrian Sea) coastline, about an hour’s drive from the French border. The anchovies reflect their continuing love of the Bay of Biscay, a confidence in the use of traditional methods to process fish at its freshest (“en fresco”), as well as an appreciation of the specialist fish-handling skills of their fishing men and women (Arrantzales).
They describe the Bay of Biscay as “an open and brave sea, rich in natural resources, where numerous species live together: White tuna, Bluefin tuna, Mackerel and the well known Bay of Biscay anchovy.” Their annual anchovy fishing occurs between April and June, utilising traditional encircling nets to capture the fish close to the surface so that the deep sea life is not disturbed. The fresh catch is then transported overnight to their processing site where highly skilled handlers process the fresh fish (“en fresco”) by hand, to be canned after maturing by press for 5 to 6 months. The characteristic aroma and superb quality of the best anchovies follows this meticulous process.
Simon Friend was born into an experienced fishing family, then worked extensively in fishing as a young adult, within Australia and internationally. It was inevitable that this would influence Friend & Burrell’s decision to distribute Olasagasti anchovies.