 |
Photo by Hank Shaw
I had a few fresh anchovies left after making pasta with them the other night, so I decided to make gavros, which is the Greek version of Spanish bocquerones or Peruvian ceviche. Gavros are better than both, or at least better than any version of ceviche or bocquerones I’ve yet eaten. This can also be done with fresh sardines.
They are less acidic than fish done through ceviche, and are a little richer and way firmer than bocquerones. And they are easy to make.
Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.
Prep Time: 24 hours
- 1 pound fresh anchovies
- 1 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 4 garlic cloves, mashed
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Cut off the heads and tails off the gutted anchovies, then split then down the middle and pull out the teeny backbone. It’ll take you a few fish to get the hang of it, but you will soon be whipping through them.
Once that step is done, lay down a thin layer of salt in a non-reactive container, then a layer of anchovies, a layer of salt, and so on. Once you’re done, pour over the red wine vinegar and lemon juice, cover the container and swirl it to mix. Leave it in the fridge for 12 hours.
Now you pour off most of the lemon juice-vinegar mix. Mash the garlic cloves and add the parsley and add them to the fish. Swirl again and leave for another 12 hours. After that, you’re done. Gavros will last several weeks in the fridge.
Aah…gavros remind me of vacation in Greece. I didn’t know they were so easy. One side benefit is you can use the heads, tails and guts to serve as a sort of compost for tomato and corn plants. My husband gutted a kilo of sardines once (for whole batter-fried sardines)and we buried the guts a few inches below the roots of our tomato transplants. They grew really well.
That’s very Indian of you! I think legend has it that Squanto told the Pilgrims about this at Plymouth. I did it a few times with herring heads and guts back in Virginia. Seemed to work pretty well, if I remember.
Yum! I heart anchovies! Need to get my hands on some fresh ones sometime.
Yours and Diane’s approach differs from mine but I’m sure the end result is similar. I can’t wait to make my own batch of Gavro Pasto this summer in Greece.
Hi We all love the gavros but usually eat them at taverners as I want to make them at home plse tell me do I use rock salt or ordinary table salt between the layers of fish – lots of garlic mmmm
I use kosher salt from Mortons. It is not finely ground like salt-shaker salt, nor is it as rough as rock sat — which is what we use to de-ice roads.
If you can only find ordinary table salt (the fine-grained variety), use less. Sea salt is your best best unless you can find kosher…
Could you please solve this one for me? Are gavros really anchovies or do they simply belong to the same family. I have been trying to find the correct translation of gavros and have had heated arguments with people who tell me that gavros should not be translated to anchovy in English, and that antzougia is anchovy. Could you please clarify? Thank you.