Boquerones

Boquerones (anchois marinés au vinaigre)

What it is

Spain keeps a hard line between the salt-cured anchoa and the vinegar-cured boquerón: one fish taken in opposite directions, darkened by months of fermentation or whitened by acid in an afternoon. Since 2006 Spanish law has required the fish to be frozen before it is marinated, because vinegar changes the texture of a raw anchovy without killing anything living in it.

In the kitchen

Marinate in white wine vinegar cut with a third of its volume in water, and stop the moment the flesh turns opaque — two to four hours for small fillets. Drain, then cover with oil and sliced garlic; left overnight in the vinegar they go chalky.

Goes with

Garlic Parsley Olive oil White wine vinegar Piquillo pepper Lemon

Same species

Anchovy Anchovy paste Colatura di alici Myeolchi-aekjeot Niboshi

Also used with

Piparra Manzanilla

In season alongside

Lingonberry Albacore Begonia petals Borage Brill Haskap

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