Recipe for Cake of Anchovies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg of potatoe
- Ripe tomatoes
- 12 anchovy fillets with salt
- Vinegar
- Olive oil
- Black pepper
- Black olives
PREPARATION
Mash the potatoes and let it macerate for a little bit with vinegar, oil and black pepper. Take anchovy fillets and put them to macerate as well between 1 h – 1½ hours with black pepper, oil and vinegar.
Peel the tomatoes, and cut them in half. Remove seeds and chop them well.
Take a mold for cake (about 20 cm. of diameter) (this will be the base layer for anchovies and the chopped tomatoes)
Cover everything with mashed potatoes and let it in the fridge until serving.
To serve the dish, turn the mold (with the layer of anchovies on top) and bathe in a little oil and chopped black olives and a garnish of shredded lettuce around fine.
Instead of anchovies, you can also make the recipe with tuna, stuffed olives and hard-boiled egg, all finely chopped and served with mayonnaise. ”
This excerpt is a recipe for an anchovies cake that has been laying in my e-mail box for months. It was sent to me from a master in cooking, the Cal Pep. Restaurante Cal Pep is a little germ (mind the vocabulary –it really is little) in Barcelona.
The reason that I keep on emphasizing the size of the restaurant is that the restaurant is actually the size of a packed bar with 20 or 30 stools, looking into the kitchen area, where your dish gets cooked right in front of your eyes. There is also a small inner room at the back of the place with a few tables for anyone wanting to sit around a table. However, the inner room misses out on the entire atmosphere, the energy of the owner Pep Manubens, who oversees everything that is happening around the bar.
There is no menu. So, do not go in expecting a list of dishes and wines. There is no such thing. The menu is whatever is fresh for the day. In fact, Pep Manubens tell you whatever is fresh. Even if you try and contest, and insist on wanting to eat something else, there is little possibility that he will yield to your wishes. Funny, that he is usually right about what he insists on.
Fried calamari is the fine print of the kitchen and a must-try. So, are the tuna sashimi (raw tuna fish, chopped and mixed) and the giant shrimps. The food gets served as in a tapas bar. In fact, many people would say that Cal Pep is the best tapas bar in the city. Since, it is the best, it is also very crowded. The place opens at 8 PM for dinner and the last time I was there, by 8 PM there were no stools left. The line gets longer by every hour, considering the fact that Spanish people do not actually eat before 10 PM.
As I have started with an excerpt, I will also finish with another one. This is from Zagat Survey for Cal Pep:
“ “You have no business being a foodie if you are in Barcelona and miss this place” declare disciples of this Born-Ribera Med, which specializes in “super-fresh” seafood and tapas “simply prepared, the way they should be”; owner Pep Manubens oversees a “diminutive” “high-energy” space with about 30 stools at the “packed” bar and a back room with a handful of tables; “line up early” and “don’t expect a menu” – “just go with the flow” for “an exceptional” experience. ”
Plaça de les Olles, 8 Barcelona
Tel: 93.310 7961
Fax: 93.3196281
calpep@calpep.com
http://www.calpep.com/Hours:
Mon. 19:30-23:30
Tues-Fri. 13:00-15:45, 19:30-23:30
Sat. 13:15-15:45
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[...] Rachel wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptInstead of anchovies, you can also make the recipe with tuna, stuffed olives and hard-boiled egg, all finely chopped and served with mayonnaise. … In fact, many people would say that Cal Pep is the best tapas bar in the city. Since, it is the best, it is also very crowded. The place opens at 8 PM for dinner and the last time I was there, by 8 PM there were no stools left. The line gets longer by every hour, considering the fact that Spanish people do not actually eat … [...]