Smoked Anchovies "Selection" Gr.100 - Nardin
100g tin.
They are the fruit of years of effort, always motivated by the Nardin family's mission : artisanal processing and respect for the raw material, anchovies exclusively from the Cantabrian Sea and peach in spring. Selected for the size and compactness of the fillets, the anchovies are treated with native noble woods, following an artisanal delicate and natural smoking process, without preservatives or additives. The secret to such a good, delicate and succulent anchovy? The freshness of the raw material: Nardin purchases only the quantity necessary for daily processing, from the port to the factory the distance is 6 km, once the anchovies are finished, the next day we start again from scratch.
The anchovies are caught in spring, the so-called "country anchovies", recognized as the best in the world: they are large, firm and with a significantly higher quantity of fat, a factor that allows for perfect salting. The Sicilians invented the salted anchovy. However, between the 19th and 20th centuries, the presence of these fish seemed to disappear in the waters of Sicily, so the island fishermen were forced to cross the Pillars of Hercules and turn their bows towards the Bay of Biscay. It is here, in the Cantabrian Sea that there are beautiful, large and firm anchovies.
Aware of their potential wealth, some far-sighted Sicilians decide to emigrate to Santogna, the capital of Cantabria. And the Nardins also have Italian origins. Mila's great-great-grandfather – who together with her husband Sebastian founded the company 25 years ago in Getaria – was precisely one of those daredevils who arrived from Sicily and taught the Basques the art of salting anchovies. Since then not only have they become part of the national gastronomic tradition, but the Spaniards have learned to ennoble them much more than we Italians, making them a gourmet product.
The anchovy is a migratory blue fish and arrives in the Bay of Biscay between April and May. The Basques call it "country anchovy", recognized as the best in the world: they are large, firm and with a significantly higher quantity of fat, a factor that allows for perfect salting. They are fished in schools and bought at auction, a Dutch auction. Everyone goes to the market to wait for the "arrantzales" to return to their fishing boats and grab all the production they will need for the coming year.