Tortino di Alici di Menaica al Forno

Pisciotta, Cilento, Campania

The alici di Menaica of Pisciotta (Cilento coast, Campania) are caught individually on a small-mesh net called a menaica at night, bled and cleaned immediately on the boat, salt-packed in terracotta anjourie (amphora-shaped jars) with sea salt and wild herbs for a minimum of one year. They are among the finest anchovies in the world — leaner, less pungent, with a complex savoury-sweet depth. This tortino layers them raw in a baking dish with thinly sliced potatoes, olive oil, and fresh tomato, baked until the anchovies melt into the potato.

• Salt-cured anchovy as the primary flavour vehicle — different format, same anchovy culture → Acciughe al verde (anchovy with green sauce) Ligurian
• Premium salt-packed anchovies as a gourmet ingredient of the same Mediterranean-Atlantic tradition → Anchoas de Santoña en aceite Spanish · (Cantabrian)
• Salt-cured anchovies layered over a starch base and baked until they dissolve into the fat — the same dissolve-in-baking technique → Pissaladière (anchovy tart) French · (Nicoise)

Silky potato absorbing the dissolved essence of the world's finest anchovies, brightened by tomato and olive oil — a minimalist preparation of maximum impact