Paolo Armento
Anchovy from Liguria
Anchovy from Liguria
Cooperative fishermen in the Cinque Terre, Portofino
Via Pilade Queirolo, 4
16039 Sestri Levante - Genova
333.7855393
paoloarmento2@gmail.com
Via Pilade Queirolo, 4
16039 Sestri Levante - Genova
333.7855393
paoloarmento2@gmail.com



Paul, born in Sestri Levante, it is to be a fisher of anchovies from when she was thirteen years old. All the nights, for more than forty years, when the moon and the weather allow, out into the sea along with his crew, ten experienced sailors, for fishing with lampara. His vessel, The She-Wolf, it is equipped with purse seine, or network seines, and two lamps, powerful lights mounted on small boats that serve to attract schools of anchovies. This fishing technique is most effective on moonless nights because of the brightness reduces the effectiveness of the action of the other boats. When the counter is surrounded the network is closed at the bottom and slowly withdrawn until the fish are concentrated in a small space and can be recovered.
This type of fishing is traditional in the Riviera Ligure di Levante, from Monterosso to Sestri Levante and also to Camogli. It is above all in the Gulf of Tigullio that Paolo goes fishing, even if, at times, goes so far as to Genoa, or to Viareggio, following the movements of the anchovy shoals. She goes out every night and return to the port at dawn, with a load that can vary from 300 to 500 boxes of anchovies, that are immediately distributed to the markets and a reduced salt content. Paolo's love and passion for this work lead him to sell the fish himself in the neighboring villages during market days as well as pack it in salt in his small workshop.
ANCHOVY FROM LIGURIA
UNDER SALT
UNDER SALT
Anchovy or anchovy, Engraulis encrasicolus, it is one of the most widespread fish in the Mediterranean and is undoubtedly the most prized of the varieties of blue fish. In ancient times it was fished with the Menaica net, today almost completely abandoned and replaced by the more efficient purse seine with lampara, fishing technique practiced in Liguria.
Anchovy fishing is more practiced in the warm seasons, when the quality of the meat of this fish is superior. In winter in fact, to defend against the colder water temperature, anchovies increase the fat content, losing the finesse of its flavor. There are countless recipes with which they are cooked in Liguria, in Piedmont and in the Mediterranean basin. Salt preservation is very common. This technique seems to have arisen by chance at the time of the smuggling of salt, when anchovies were used to cover the top of the barrels.
The anchovies are salted from May to October, in the warm months, placing them in large barrels, between layers of salt and pressed by a weight. After maturation, from forty days to about two months, they are transferred in traditional glass arbanelle or in tin containers, or preserved in oil from the food industry.
