Let’s clear up doubts once and for all: anchovy and anchovy are the same thing or at least words that refer to the same fish. When we talk about anchovies and anchovies we are actually referring to the same species, with the scientific name Engraulis encrasicolus, also known as bocarte, a “little cousin” of the sardine. So why both terms? Next, we explain what the real difference is: if we are talking about the same fish, what is the difference due to?
What is anchovy
The anchovy is a salted semi-preserved product that is made by curing the anchovy in salt and preserving it in oil until consumption. This process is carried out in an artisanal way in several canning areas of Spain, especially in the Cantabrian Sea area with special mention for the town of Santoña, and the result is a gastronomic product highly valued by consumers. Furthermore, in the Basque Country, fresh fish itself is also called anchovy.
What is Boquerón
Boquerón is the most common name given to the bocarte or Engraulis encrasicolus , which as we have seen is a small blue fish that lives in salt waters, both in the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, it is a term that refers to the fish itself, which can then be prepared in many different ways, one of them pickled anchovies.
What is bocarte
Are there any doubts left? The bocarte, anchovy or anchovy is the same, a small blue fish that lives in salt waters, both in the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea and in the Mediterranean Sea. This species, which is gregarious in nature and lives in very large banks, is nocturnal and lives at great depths. It only rises to spawn, and when it does, it approaches the surface.
It is around seven or eight centimeters long in adulthood and is characterized by having a silver, greenish and bluish body, with large eyes and mouth in proportion to its size. When it is free, still in the sea, it has a green stripe that crosses its body from end to end and, once caught and when we find it for sale, it changes its color to black. Since both the salted anchovy and the pickled anchovy are made after thoroughly cleaning the fresh fish, they should never have traces of bones or blood.
What are the differences between Anchovies And Bocarte?
Once you are clear that when talking about anchovies or anchovies we are talking about the same fish, it is time to ask yourself about the differences. At a gastronomic level, the fundamental difference between anchovy and anchovy is in the way the fish is prepared and processed. The raw material is the same, but to make anchovies a salting process is followed while for anchovies a different process is used, from frying to pickling, which is perhaps the anchovy preparation that we all most easily identify. This also gives rise to clear differences in color and flavor.
Furthermore, in certain geographical regions, linguistic customs also influence, and we can find differences between the north and south of Spain. In any case, it should be clear that we are always talking about the same species.
Anchovies are salted and anchovies are pickled.
Assuming that this fish can be prepared in as many ways as the cook’s culinary imagination has, there are two methods that make a clear difference between whether the final result is called “anchovy” or “anchovy.”
Anchovies are made by salting the fish, meaning that the fish is thoroughly cleaned and the head and central bone are removed. With the fillets well cleaned, the fillets are cured in salt stacked in layers, and then preserved in olive oil.
However, the process with pickled anchovies is different, since after cleaning the fish and removing the head and central bone, the fillets are cold cooked by covering them with vinegar. The longer the anchovy spends under the vinegar, the more “cooked”, that is, the more “cooked”, its meat will be. When taken out, they are also usually preserved in olive oil, usually seasoned with garlic and chopped parsley.
Anchovies are older than pickled anchovies
Both salting and pickling foods are two preparations that seek to extend the useful life of foods, but salting is an older technique. From this it is deduced that anchovies are an older product than anchovies in vinegar, which were only possible once vinegar began to be used as a preservative around the year 300 BC.
Regarding the particular case of anchovy and its production in Spain, it should be said that salting fish has been present in the peninsula since the time of the Roman Empire, in which it provided a practical solution also applied to meat. With a great tradition on the Levantine coast and in Catalonia, influenced by the Mediterranean civilizations that inhabited them, for anchovies to begin to be made in the north, the Sicilian knowledge of this technique had to be imported and applied to the local product, bocarte.
The anchovies are brown, the pickled anchovies are white.
The anchovy has a uniform color that encompasses different shades of intense brown, depending on origin, curing, etc. while, for its part, the anchovy that is marinated in vinegar turns its loins an intense white.
Anchovy is saltier, caloric, and fat
When prepared in different ways, anchovy and anchovy present some nutritional differences. Anchovies, being salted, contain much more sodium than anchovies and a higher concentration of fat and calories, which could be a problem for people with hypertension or heart problems. The anchovy, as a general rule, has a lower amount of these nutrients. It would be necessary to consider what kind of oil they are finally preserved in to assess their final amount of fat. Although they have an intense flavor, it is not as strong as anchovy, as long as we are talking about anchovies in vinegar, remember that they can be prepared in other ways. Anchovies have less omega-3 fatty acids and less sodium, although there may be an issue with the acidity of the vinegar for some people.
Anchovies keep longer
In this fight between anchovies and anchovies, it is clear that we are talking about two preserves, but they do not last at the same time. The shelf life of anchovies is longer than that of pickled anchovies because salting prolongs their shelf life. Marinating in vinegar is a natural preservative that we have seen emerged later and that also extends the useful life of food, but not by as much.
Anchovy and Bocarte in the north, anchovy in the south
Throughout the north of Spain, there are different ways of calling the mouth.
- In the Basque Country, the term “anchovy” is used to refer to both raw fish when ordering it at the fishmonger, and salted preparation. Boquerón is a word that refers to its preparation in vinegar.
- In Cantabria and Asturias, the term “bocarte” is added to salted anchovy and anchovy in vinegar to call raw fish and also some ways of preparing it, for example, in the case of battered and fried anchovies.
- Broadly speaking, in the south, including the south of the Levant, the term “anchovy” is used to refer to raw fish, its frying or its preparation in vinegar, while “anchovy” is only used when we talk about canning.
Recipes with anchovies and anchovies
Once the salted anchovies and the anchovies in vinegar have been obtained, there is a first recipe that combines both preparations, known as “marriage”, in which an anchovy and an anchovy are placed, normally on a piece of toast or bread and seasoned with a little of its own oil. The power of the salty anchovy and the fresher touch of the anchovy make this lucky encounter a delight.
With the fish still fresh, in addition to anchovies and anchovies in vinegar, it is very typical in different areas of the south to prepare them as a fryer, closed and battered before passing through oil, known as ” fried fish ” or open and with lemon. In the north, especially in Cantabria and Asturias, they are also normally fried in batter, with their wings open at the sides. In addition, anchovies can also be made pickled or roasted or baked in the oven. With pickled anchovy, you can cook a delicious version of Mexican tacos marinated with pico de gallo.
A great and typical appetizer option in the north of Spain, and especially in the Basque Country, is to accompany the anchovy with olives and piparras mounted on a banderilla, turning the whole into a Gilda. On a peak of elongated bread and loaded with Russian salad, topped with anchovy, they are part of a delicious Murcian marinara. Anchovies are also essential in dishes such as Caesar salad, without which the anchovy loses its canonical and traditional trait, and in puttanesca pasta, in which they provide a decisive point of flavor.