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Fish and seafood from Spain

Anchoas del Cantábrico (salt-ripened anchovies)anchoa

European anchovies are salted, headed and gutted, then packed in barrels in layers with salt and pressed for months while the flesh ripens. The ripened fish are cleaned and filleted, and in Spain most are packed in olive oil as a chilled semi-preserve. Ripening is mostly the work of the fish's own enzymes in strong brine.

Fully documentedFish and seafood6 months – 20 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceSalt levels are from the process table of a French study of Basque-coast anchovy salting. No Spanish recipe with amounts was found.
Fresh European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus)Spanish rules reserve the name "anchoa" for this species[velasco2016]
Salt10–15 % for the final barrel saltingPresalting on board uses 3–5 %; the whole fish are then brined at 25–30 %[durand1982]
Olive oil or another vegetable oil39 of 63 Spanish products sampled used olive oil[velasco2016]
Starterother: the brine is not sterile, since the salt carries extremely halophilic microbes and the fish carry sea-water bacteria (Campello 1985, French Basque anchovies)

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months – 20 months

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a fishSalt 3–5 %

What changes: A light salting on board preserves the fish

Step 1 of 6
Presalt on board
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
3–5 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Pediococcus halophilus

Output: lightly salted fish.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

European anchovies are salted, headed and gutted, then packed in barrels in layers with salt and pressed for months while the flesh ripens. The ripened fish are cleaned and filleted, and in Spain most are packed in olive oil as a chilled semi-preserve. Ripening is mostly the work of the fish's own enzymes in strong brine. Made in 6 steps over 6 months – 20 months. The longest step, layer with salt in barrels and press to ripen, takes 4–18 months (Durand P. 1982) and runs at 20 °C (Durand P. 1982). Salt is 3–5 % (Durand P. 1982). Pediococcus halophilus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–18 monthsReported[durand1982]Layer with salt in barrels and press to ripen
Temperature20 °CReported[durand1982]Layer with salt in barrels and press to ripen
Salt3–5 %Reported[durand1982]Presalt on board
AciditypH 5.2–5.3Measured[durand1982]Layer with salt in barrels and press to ripen

What makes this one different

The anchovies ripen in salt for months under pressure, so enzymes, not acid, change the flesh. They are filleted only after ripening and kept chilled, unlike sterilised canned fish.

Spanish labelling
Spanish rules allow the name "anchoa" only for Engraulis encrasicolus; "anchoas" may be other Engraulis species.
Cantabrian quality label
Cantabria's Order GAN/18/2014 set the rules for the regional "Calidad Controlada" label on anchovy fillets in oil made in Cantabria.

Related ferments

Variants

  • French Basque and Roussillon salted anchoviesThe same barrel salting; packed in salt, as fillets, or as anchovy butter or cream.

Safety

EU rules set a histamine limit for fishery products that have undergone enzyme maturation in brine and are made from histidine-rich species such as anchovy. Of nine samples, none may exceed 400 mg/kg and no more than two may exceed 200 mg/kg (Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005, Annex I, row 1.27). An FAO review notes that Pediococcus halophilus can form histamine during long storage at ambient temperatures of 20–25 °C.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Velasco et al. (2016) say consumers link a geographical name such as Cantabria with high quality, because of the species and the process. They say the species was seasonally caught by the artisanal fleet in the Cantabrian Sea and preserved by the local industry. They add that no protected geographical indication for anchovies had yet been approved, so Cantabria issued a regional rule in 2014 (GAN 18) for a Controlled Quality label.

  1. [durand1982] Durand P. 1982, Étude de la fraction azotée soluble de l'anchois salé en cours de maturation, Revue des Travaux de l'Institut des Pêches maritimes 45(4), 271–281 (IFREMER Archimer)paper
  2. [campello1985] Campello F. 1985, Microflore et anchoitage, Revue des Travaux de l'Institut des Pêches maritimes 47(3–4), 227–236 (IFREMER Archimer)paper
  3. [velasco2016] Velasco A., Aldrey A., Pérez-Martín R.I. and Sotelo C.G. 2016, Assessment of the labelling accuracy of Spanish semipreserved anchovies products by FINS, Heliyon 2:e00124paper
  4. [reg2073] Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, Annex I, row 1.27 (histamine), as published on legislation.gov.ukspec
  5. [fao-ftp329] Essuman K.M. 1992, Fermented fish in Africa, a study on processing, marketing and consumption, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 329, section 2.2 (literature review)gov