Anchovies in the fridge

Read this in the paper this morning about tinned anchovies

“They are semi-conserves or semi-preserved. Shops selling top brands leppthem in the deli fridge and you should do the same”
(Richard Cornish in the Age newspaper 4/2/2020)

I have only seen one shop,do this and didn’t know why, until today.
Anyone else aware of this?

FYI his reccos for brands Lolin Ortiz, Don Bocarte, Conservas Emilia and Cuca for good value (and good enough to eat from the tin, he fesses up to eating a can of The Don Bocarte on the way home on the tram LOL)

I use tinned anchovies for pizza and puttenesca sauces, but I don't keep them in a fridge and neither does the supermarket I buy them from.

I recall reading years ago about enthusiasts who aged their tins for many years saying that the anchovies matured and delivered a taste they prefer.

I would have thought that if tinned anchovies needed to be kept in a fridge, it would state so on the packaging. I've reached this far without doing so, and I am not going to start refrigerating tins of anchovies - OTOH they would take minimal space.

I suppose it depends on the brand of anchovy. The tins for sale here in New England are just on the regular shelves at room temperature and I've never heard of keeping the tins refrigerated. But I imagine that some anchovies might be preserved as herring are in Swedish surstromming, in which case they would need refrigeration to stay fresh.

-Paul W.

I've never heard that it is necessary to keep anchovies in the fridge. OTOH, I habitually put anything that is open in the fridge, just because.

We're talking unopened cans of anchovies? Never seen that, but obviously couldn't hurt

We use a lot of anchovies (puttanesca and other pasta sauces, rubbing on leg of lamb, chicken, anchovy butter, anchovy mayo, salad dressings, pizza, etc etc etc). We buy large jar (glass lid with rubber gasket and metal snap) and keep in fridge.

https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/10/tas ... e-oil.html

Good article, Dale.

[Jenise]

What Jeff said. News to me!

Dale, I wasn’t clear, we are talking about unopened cans

I did some more research and found the following article

Anchovies are extremely sensitive to heat, and should be stored in the refrigerator even prior to opening, says Raij. They’re what’s known as a “semi-conserva,” she points out, so they’re not fully pasteurized. If you’ve stored them somewhere with fluctuating temperatures, such as near your stove, you might notice that they’ve dissolved when you open them. It’s fine to use those for sauces and dressings, says Raij, but you’re not eating them at their best.

Spanish chef Alex Raij of New York City Basque restaurants La Vara and Txikito.

“If you open your tin you should finish it,” says Raij. Once they’re open, “they do oxidize and get stronger.” (Not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe not what you want.)

This Second statement gels with a comment by Maggie Beer, a doyen of Aussie food and cooking, who remarked on a cooking show that she will only open the tin at the last moment and use it immediately as they oxidise.

So, I will follow up,on this some more, but it seems that we can happily enjoy our anchovies as we always have done, or some geeks like me might just chuck them in the fridge and see.

Yup.

Most stores here keep their tins of anchovies in the cooler, as do I after I buy them. We much prefer a caesar salad with real anchovies rather than anchovy paste, so getting through them before they can oxidize isn't usually a problem.

While we do buy some tins, I prefer the 5 oz. bottled version in vegetable oil and salt. They last quite well (2 weeks or so) once opened.

Some get used in sauces - adding a single anchovy to a butter sauce adds a je ne sais quoi that diners can't identify but that they like. They'd never believe that there was any anchovy in it.

I've always taken the J. Geils Band tack: "no anchovies, please."

-Paul W.