Boquerones, sometimes called anchoas are the little fish served throughout Spain at the ubiquitous Tapas bars. Served simply with toasted country bread they are both satisfying and sustainable.

To prepare Boquerones into homemade tapas, you can gut the little fish quickly by making a swift slit along the belly. Then discard the innards and remove the backbone by running a knife under it and lifting it from the tail end upwards. Next, rinse the deboned fillets and cover them in a shallow dish with white wine vinegar. This will clean and bleach the flesh and soften any remaining little bones.  

Once submerged, the fish simply have to be left a few hours to “cook”, in the vinegar. Leaving them overnight in the refrigerator and changing the vinegar once during the course of the evening is a nice extra touch.

The following morning simply pour off the vinegar, rinse gently with water, and cover the fillets with lots of good quality extra virgin olive oil, sliced garlic and fresh parsley to taste. They will keep well in the oil and when you are ready to serve you can simply top them off with a squeeze of lemonjuice and a tiny pinch of regular or smoked salt. 

Present the Boquerones beside thick wedges of garlic toast and a small consortium of miscellaneous summer delights such as chunks of heirloom tomatoes, roasted new potatoes, sheepsmilk cheese, fresh radishes, kalamata olives, pickled onions, and a glass of dry sherry.