Anchovy
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 European anchovy | ||||||||||
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Amazonsprattus |
The anchovies are a family (Engraulidae) of small but common schooling saltwater plankton-feeding fish. Their distribution is worldwide.
Anchovies preserved by gutting and salting in brine, matured then packed in oil are an important food fish, both popular and unpopular for their strong flavor. In Roman times, they were the base for the fermented fish sauce called garum that was a staple of cuisine and an item of long-distance commerce produced in industrial quantities. Today they are a key ingredient in Caesar salad and common as a pizza topping. Because of the strong flavor they are also an ingredient in several sauces, including Worcestershire sauce and many other fish sauces, and in some versions of Café de Paris butter. Anchovies are also commonly used as a pizza topping. Fishermen also use anchovies as bait for larger fish such as tuna and sea bass.
The family includes 16 genera and over 130 species.
Species:
- European anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus is the anchovy of commerce. Morocco now leads the world in canned anchovies. The anchovy industry along the coast of Cantabria now dwarfs the traditional Catalan salters, though the industry was only initiated in Cantabria by Sicilian salters in the mid 19th century.
Overfishing of anchovies has been a problem. Since the 1980s, large mechanized anchovy fishing vessels based in France have caught the fish in fine-mesh dragnets.
Anchovies are also commonly used as a pizza topping
External link
- FishBase info for Engraulidae (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/FamilySummary.cfm?ID=454)
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