Anchovy Butter

Beurre d’Anchois (anchovy butter) teaches a blunt classical truth: refinement often comes from removing, not adding. Before you touch the butter, know this: the fine sieve is the dish. Pounding unites anchovy and butter; sieving removes every stubborn fibre and pin bone, leaving a spread that tastes clean, saline, and astonishingly smooth.

The original assumes whole salt-cured anchovies, a heavy mortar, and a fine tamis (drum sieve) within easy reach. It needs neither a saucier nor a stockpot. At home, a mini processor may do the brigade’s pounding, and a sturdy fine-mesh metal sieve replaces the tamis honestly. The pounding is scaffolding and may be mechanized; the final sieving must stay. The book’s four-ounce butter batch is already right for a home table, so I haven’t cut it or disturbed its twelve-to-fifteen anchovy ratio.

Keep the butter cool and pliable. If it melts into an oily paste while you pound, chill it briefly; ça se rattrape. Then press every spoonful through the mesh and scrape the silk from underneath. That last passage through the sieve matters more than any garnish. One cook, no stove required, one evening.