 
Some pizza lovers don’t really like
anchovies while others crave for it.
While taste preferences change
from person to person, anchovies are good for you. Being fish but cured
to be salty (for preservation purposes), they are healthy for your heart
having omega 3’s but do have plenty of sodium making them good but in
moderation.
The anchovies hail from the Engraulidae family of tiny, common
salt-water forage (fin) fish. There are about 140 species in 16 genera,
found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Anchovies are usually
classified as an oily fish. Anchovies are small green fish with blue
reflections due to a silver longitudinal stripe that runs from the base
of the caudal fin.
Anchovies are an important source of food for fish and are also eaten
by humans especially in pizza. They are packed in salt (brine) or olive
oil.
When preserved by being gutted and salted in brine, matured, then
packed in oil or salt, they acquire a characteristic strong flavour. In
Roman times, they were the base for the fermented fish sauce called
garum that was a staple of cuisine and an item of long-distance commerce
produced in industrial quantities, and were also consumed raw as an
aphrodisiac.
 Today,
they are used in small quantities to flavour many dishes. Because of the
strong flavour they are also an ingredient in several sauces, including
Worcestershire sauce, remoulade and many fish sauces, and in some
versions of Café de Paris butter. For domestic use, anchovy fillets are
packed in oil or salt in small tins or jars, sometimes rolled around
capers. Anchovy paste is also available.
Harpo’s Pizza uses anchovies for their signature pizzas like ‘Pizza
Alla Bayleaf’, ‘Pizza Alla Nostramo’ and
‘Pizza con Simon Sez’. They get their fresh anchovies imported from
Italy using fine minute anchovies that are healthy and give a good
taste.
Italians love anchovies, a delicious little fish that flavours many
Italian favourites.
Often the right blend of salty flavours and tantalising Italianherbs
and spices can create that magnificent flavour. More often than not the
mysterious ingredient that made the meal so memorable was in fact
anchovies.
They might be small but these fish pack a huge punch in flavour that
acts as a backbone to many Italian recipes. Anchovies cannot be ignored
for long if you desire authentic Italian flavour, it is time they
deserve a second look.
Winners of Harpo’s Pizza:
1. J.Ariyaratne, Kadawatha
2. S.P.D. Samaranayake, Pannipitiya
3. A.Ekanayake, Makola
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