There is a word in my dialect, mâ, that means both “sea” and “evil”, and there is another, pan do mâ, “bread of the sea”, that means something closer to love. It is what we call the salted anchovy of Monterosso, and if you want to understand where I come from, you could do worse than start with this small silver fish.
I grew up half a valley from Monterosso, in the Cinque Terre, and the anchovy is woven through my earliest memories. This is its story, the fishing, the salting, the festivals, and how to eat it, and it belongs to my wider guide to the Cinque Terre and Liguria.
The king of ingredients
Anchovies are fished in other parts of Italy too, in Sicily, in a slightly different form in the Adriatic. But in the Cinque Terre, and above all in Monterosso, the anchovy is not just an ingredient; it is the ingredient, the king of the local table. It is a beautiful little thing, too, with its blue-black back and its rounded silver belly, and it is delicious however you prepare it.
The fishing tradition here reaches back to Roman times, but it truly developed in the late Middle Ages, when people began salting anchovies to preserve them and to trade them with other communities. That is how the salted anchovy travelled inland and became essential even to dishes far from the sea, like the Piedmontese bagna cauda.
Fishing by lamplight
In our stretch of sea the anchovies are fished mostly on summer nights, roughly from April to July, when the shoals come close to the coast around Punta Mesco to spawn. The old fishermen of Monterosso will tell you the very best night of all is the 29th of June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
On those nights the small wooden boats typical of Liguria, the gozzi, head out with a lampara fixed on board, the lamp that gives the technique its name. Once over the right water, they switch on the lights, which make the plankton glow and draw the anchovies up into the waiting nets. I have watched it only a few times, and each time it moved me more than I expected. It is a different kind of poetry, but poetry all the same.
The women on the doorsteps
Here is the memory I hold most dear.
When I was a child, and right up until the early 1990s, it was still common in this season to see women sitting on their doorsteps, busy salting anchovies, surrounded by curious children and hopeful cats. That image- the doorstep, the terracotta jars, the smell of the sea and the salt, the children underfoot- is one of the happiest of my childhood, and it is disappearing, which is exactly why I want to write it down.
The salting itself is an art. Today the salted anchovies of Monterosso are a Slow Food Presidio, which has helped protect the traditional method against being watered down. The fresh anchovies are layered in arbanelle, the terracotta or glass jars, alternating with coarse sea salt, then pressed and left to mature for at least forty days. Careful layering, the right pressure, constant attention to the quantity and quality of the brine: this is what gives the finished anchovy its firm, compact flesh and its intense but never aggressive flavour, keeping all the aroma of a fish just pulled from the sea.
How to eat pan do mâ
In Liguria the recipes for anchovies are close to endless.
The simplest, and my own favourite, is the plainest: salted anchovies on toasted bread with butter and a pinch of oregano over everything. When I have time in the kitchen I like them stuffed and baked, but they are also wonderful cooked in a pan with olive oil, garlic and parsley, fried, on pizza, with pasta, or baked with tomatoes and potatoes. However you serve them, pour a glass of cold Cinque Terre white wine alongside and you have a meal in the purest Ligurian style.
And here is the pairing I would send you to above all others: a good salted anchovy, dressed simply with our DOP Riviera Ligure olive oil, laid on a warm square of proper Genoese focaccia. That is Liguria on a plate, the sea and the oil and the bread, and there is little I would rather eat.
Come for the anchovy
The anchovy is also an excellent excuse to visit Monterosso, which holds two festivals in its honour.
The Sagra dell’Acciuga Fritta, the fried anchovy festival, falls on the third weekend of June, when the anchovies are freshest, and the fish are fried from early morning in traditional fish-shaped iron pans, served hot in a paper cone with fried bread and cold Cinque Terre white wine. Then in September, once the salted anchovies have matured, comes the Sagra dell’Acciuga Salata, the salted anchovy festival, often paired with the local olive oil. I would not miss either, and if you time your visit around one, you will see the town at its most itself.
Check the current dates before you travel, since they shift a little each year, but the pattern is dependable: fried in June, salted in September, and the sea in between.
Further reading
- Cinque Terre National Park on the salted anchovies of Monterosso: https://www.parconazionale5terre.it/prodotti-dettaglio.php?id=2686
- Slow Food Foundation on the Monterosso salted anchovy Presidium: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/slow-food-presidia/monterosso-salted-anchovies/
- Pro Loco Monterosso, for current festival dates: https://www.prolocomonterosso.it/
Frequently asked questions
Pan do mâ, meaning “bread of the sea” in Ligurian dialect, is the traditional salted anchovy of Monterosso al Mare, in the Cinque Terre. The name reflects how essential this humble, preserved fish has been to the local diet for centuries. The salted anchovies of Monterosso are recognised as a Slow Food Presidio.
Fresh anchovies, caught between roughly April and July, are layered in terracotta or glass jars called arbanelle, alternating with coarse sea salt, then pressed and left to mature for at least forty days. Careful layering, pressing and monitoring of the brine give the anchovies their firm flesh and intense but balanced flavour.
They are fished mostly on summer nights using the traditional lampara technique: small wooden boats (gozzi) go out with a lamp on board, whose light makes the plankton glow and draws the anchovy shoals into the nets. The old fishermen say the best night of all is the 29th of June, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.
Monterosso holds two. The fried anchovy festival (Sagra dell’Acciuga Fritta) takes place on the third weekend of June, when the fish are freshest, and the salted anchovy festival (Sagra dell’Acciuga Salata) is held in September, once the salted anchovies have matured, often celebrated together with local olive oil. Dates shift slightly each year, so check before travelling.
Simply is best. Classic Ligurian ways include salted anchovies on toasted bread with butter and oregano, dressed with olive oil, garlic and a little oregano, or laid on warm Genoese focaccia. They are also excellent stuffed and baked, fried, on pizza, with pasta, or baked with tomatoes and potatoes, always with a glass of cold Cinque Terre white wine.
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