THE MOUNTAINEER ANCHOVIES

In Piedmont there is no sea, or, at least, it has not been there for 5 million years, and yet, a marine fish, anchovy, is often  resent in the Piedmontese cookbook, indeed it is an essential ingredient of the iconic dish, a symbol same of Piedmont: the
bagna càuda.

The Romans called it apiuva and had introduced, during the Punic wars, a condiment obtained from the processing of this fish, which abounds in the Mediterranean, called garum which was used to flavor meats and vegetables. And perhaps Piedmont, a land of mountains, which separate it from the sea, is indebted to the legions of Caesar, who dipped vegetables in this sauce, of the origins of his identifying dish. It is precisely because of the distance from the sea, and the long times required for transport, that the history of anchovy is intertwined with that of one of the historical and political pillars: salt. A story made of stubbornness and efforts for the supply of food and for its conservation, guaranteed by the salt, precious and necessary, procured by the hard work of fishermen and salt workers, men of water and land, with strong arms and legs, burnt from the sun, whipped by the wind and consumed by the water. Anchovies and salt traveled on roads specially built by the state and on other prohibited roads, created by smugglers, hidden, inaccessible and dangerous to avoid duties, taxes, taxes, and monopolies. There were several salt routes between Liguria and Piedmont and they were crossed by caross d’ancioe, the carts of anchovies, because often, layers of anchovies, food accessible to all, tasty and long-lasting, hid the precious load of salt of the powerful monopoly Genoese, which was destined for the large Piedmont and Lombardy markets, thus escaping the tight-knit of the Finanza Regia. The job of the anchovies was hard, because it was carried out by the peasants, who finished the work in the fields, during the harsh winters, went down to Liguria where they bought the salted anchovies which they then resold by loading them on the ash caross, which weighed fifty kilos, and were sturdy enough to carry loads of nearly three quintals on bad roads, which crossed gorges, valleys infested with masche, the witches who frightened smugglers and made the milk sour or the mules go crazy. The life of the anciuè lasts a long time, on roads that were not roads they traveled up to 40 km a day, asking for hospitality to sleep in exchange for some anchovies, and was away from home for up to eight months. They carried the pungent smell of anchovies, which attracted flies, and perhaps for this reason the name  Moschierès was given to the land of anchovies in Val Maira, in the municipality of Dronero, in the province of Cuneo, 150 km kilometers from the sea. The toughness of the trade, and the modern organization, managed by wholesalers, put out the cry “Anchoiers, anchoiers“, which echoed all the way to Emilia Romagna. The scent of anchovies remains in the many traditional recipes, from veal with tuna sauce to green and red bagnet, typical of the summer snack, consumed in the late afternoon, before resuming work in the fields until the sunset, and the anchovy fair, which is held every year, in June, in Val Maira, because by San Giovanni, after the summer solstice, traditionally feast is given to the bottom of what is left of the winter supplies.