Chef Thomas
A Proper Ploughman's Board
A board of good cheddar, thick ham, proper pickle, hard-boiled eggs, and crusty bread. Not cooking so much as assembling with conviction, and one of the finest lunches the English kitchen has ever produced.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Anchovy Straws
Created by Chef Thomas
Puff pastry twisted with anchovy and Parmesan, baked until golden and shattering and salty, the kind of thing you put out with drinks that disappears before anyone sits down.
Appetizers & Snacks
British
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
YieldAbout 24 straws
The smell of these coming out of the oven is the smell of a good evening about to happen. Warm pastry, toasted Parmesan, and that deep, savoury hum of anchovy that makes people lean towards the kitchen and ask what you're making.
They're more refined than cheese straws, though they take no more effort. The anchovy does the heavy lifting: salt, savour, a quiet insistence that makes the first one lead directly to the third. With a cold glass of something dry, white wine or fino sherry if you have it, they become the sort of thing around which a whole evening can form. People standing in the kitchen, talking with their hands, reaching for another straw without looking.
I make these whenever someone is coming round and I want the house to smell like I've been paying attention. The truth is they take about twenty minutes from packet to plate. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract, and this one barely needs raising its voice. All-butter puff pastry from the freezer, a tin of good anchovies, a bit of Parmesan. We're only making dinner. Or rather, we're making the bit before dinner that everyone remembers best.
I wrote it down in the notebook last winter: anchovies, pastry, cold Chablis, the kitchen full of people. That was the whole entry. It didn't need more.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
all-butter puff pastry
Quantity
1 sheet (about 320g)
thawed if frozen
anchovy fillets in olive oil
Quantity
50g tin
Parmesan
Quantity
40g
finely grated
egg yolk
Quantity
1
beaten with a splash of milk
black pepper
Quantity
a few turns
cayenne pepper (optional)
Quantity
a pinch
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| all-butter puff pastrythawed if frozen | 1 sheet (about 320g) |
| anchovy fillets in olive oil | 50g tin |
| Parmesanfinely grated | 40g |
| egg yolkbeaten with a splash of milk | 1 |
| black pepper | a few turns |
| cayenne pepper (optional) | a pinch |
Equipment Needed
- •Large baking tray
- •Baking parchment
- •Sharp knife or pizza cutter
- •Pastry brush
Instructions
- 1
Make the anchovy paste
Tip the anchovies and their oil into a small bowl and mash them to a rough paste with the back of a fork. You're not after something smooth. A few ragged pieces are fine, welcome even, because they'll crisp in the oven and give you those salty, savoury bursts that make the whole thing worth eating. Stir in the black pepper and the cayenne if you're using it.
Good anchovies matter here. The cheap ones in sunflower oil taste of tin and salt and nothing else. Look for fillets packed in olive oil, ideally from a jar rather than a can. They cost a little more and earn it back in every bite. - 2
Assemble the pastry
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 30cm by 25cm, the thickness of a coin. Spread the anchovy paste over one half of the pastry, leaving a narrow border. Scatter the grated Parmesan evenly over the anchovy paste. Fold the bare half of the pastry over the top and press it down gently with your hands, sealing the two layers together. Roll over it lightly once more, just enough to bond the layers. No more than that or you'll push the filling out the edges.
If the pastry gets warm and soft while you're working, slide it onto a baking tray and put it back in the fridge for ten minutes. Cold pastry behaves. Warm pastry fights you. - 3
Cut and twist
Set the oven to 200C/180C fan. Line a large baking tray with parchment. With a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, slice the pastry into strips about 1cm wide. Take each strip, hold one end against the board with your fingertips, and twist the other end three or four times so it spirals. Lay them on the tray, pressing the ends down firmly so they don't unravel. Leave a finger's width between them. They'll puff, but not dramatically.
- 4
Glaze and bake
Brush the straws lightly with the egg wash. Not thickly, just enough to give them a reason to go golden. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes, turning the tray halfway through if your oven runs uneven. You're looking for a deep gold colour, not pale, not dark. The kitchen will smell of toasted cheese and warm pastry and something savoury underneath that tells you they're nearly done. Let them cool on the tray for a few minutes. They'll crisp as they sit.
They go from golden to burnt in the time it takes to answer the door. Stay close in the last few minutes. Trust your nose. It knows before you do.
Chef Tips
- •All-butter puff pastry is not negotiable. The cheaper sort made with vegetable oil tastes of nothing and bakes flat. Look for one that lists butter in the ingredients rather than margarine. If you can find a block and roll it yourself, better still, but the ready-rolled sheets are perfectly good and honest about what they are.
- •Don't add salt. The anchovies and the Parmesan bring more than enough. Taste the paste before you spread it and you'll understand. If anything, a pinch of cayenne is the only adjustment worth making, a low warmth that lingers after the salt.
- •Serve them warm or at room temperature, standing upright in a jar or a tumbler if you want them to look like they belong at a party. They're best within a few hours of baking, when the pastry is still crisp. By the next morning, they've softened. Still edible, but the magic is in the shatter.
- •These are exactly right with a glass of cold white wine, something dry and mineral. Fino sherry is even better if you have a bottle open. The salt of the anchovy against the cold wine is one of those combinations that makes you wonder why you'd bother with anything more complicated.
Advance Preparation
- •The straws can be assembled, twisted, and frozen unbaked on a tray. Once solid, transfer to a bag and bake from frozen, adding two or three minutes to the time. Useful when people are coming and you want to look effortless.
- •The anchovy paste can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before spreading or it won't cooperate with cold pastry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 16g)
Calories
65 calories
Total Fat
4 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
15 mg
Sodium
130 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
2 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from British Snacks & Small Things
Browse the full collection
Chef Thomas
Angels on Horseback
Fresh oysters wrapped in crisp streaky bacon and grilled until the salt of the sea meets the smoke of the cure, served on hot buttered toast the way the Victorians intended, only simpler and at home.
Chef Thomas
Black Pudding Scotch Eggs
Boiled eggs wrapped in a dark, spiced coat of sausage meat and crumbled black pudding, fried to a deep gold. The kind of thing you eat standing up in the kitchen, still warm, with mustard on your thumb.
Chef Thomas
Bloater Paste
Smoked herring pounded with butter, lemon, and a thread of cayenne into something pungent and deeply savoury, potted under clarified butter the way they've done it in Yarmouth for two hundred years.