Salt Cured & Marinated Fresh Anchovies

What we call Whitebait (Anchovies) are referred to as a fish called Gavros in Greece. My Aunt Roula introduced me to this appetizer which is often served with Ouzo.

This is my ode to this traditional Greek meze (appetizer):

Makes 8-10 Meze servings

2 pounds small fresh anchovies
Course Sea Salt
White wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, cut into very thin slivers
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Cracked Peppercorns

1. Gut the anchovies and remove the heads.
Wash the fish thoroughly.

2. Place the fish in layers in a plastic container, salting each layer
generously. Pour in enough vinegar to cover. Leave the fish to cure for 15 hours.

3. Put the fish in a colander and rinse the salt of throughly under cold running water. If the fish still taste very salty, let them sit in a bowl of water for an hour.

4. Remove the spine from the fish by pulling it
gently but firmly from the tail end. The whole backbone should come out this
way. Place the fish back in the container in neat lay­ers and sprinkle a
little garlic and parsley between layers. Pour in enough olive oil to cover and add 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar.

Let stand for 5 hours before serving. Refrigerate the fish
and it will keep for several weeks.

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