Seafood Made Simple: Aishling Moore's super Bagna Cauda sauce — a taste of Italy

Broccoli in bagna cauda sauce. Pic: Chani Anderson

Bagna cauda was one of my go to sauces when I was grilling steaks over wood-fire back in the day at Elbow Lane. 

It’s a mind-melting, delicious sauce comprised of all the good things in life; anchovies, garlic, olive oil and butter. It's a dressing that’ll stand up to strong and smoky flavours.

Anchovies don’t get the credit they deserve, often the unsung hero of so many of the non-seafood dishes we adore and eat every day. 

The addictiveness of Caesar dressing on pretty much anything, that splash of Worcestershire sauce in a shepherd’s pie, the spoon of salsa verde with a roast leg of lamb. All have this humble little salt cured tinned fish to thank. 

Hailing from Piedmont, bagna cauda is a deeply savoury sauce that’s usually served split with the Jamy anchovies and garlic settling to the bottom and served warm with raw crudité as an appetiser. 

Preferring a sauce with a little acidity I add some white wine and lemon juice to offer some relief to the pungent garlic and anchovies. 

I also add a touch of cream to emulsify, delivering a spoon-coating sauce that works just as well for drizzling as it does for dipping and dunking. 

Let the record show (before all my Italian mates unfriend me) that this is the only addition of pourable high-fat dairy I make to any Italian dish!

In this recipe I use Cantabrian anchovies from the Bay of Biscay in San Sebastien. A well-managed fishery that has prioritised the preservation of this species. 

The anchovies are salted and hand packed delivering an exemplary product. I always like to have a few tins of these stashed in the back of the press. 

Canning is such a fantastic way to preserve fish and reduce the overwhelming wastage of an already limited resource.

Bagna Cauda

A mind melting delicious sauce comprising of all the good things in life; anchovies, garlic, olive oil and butter.

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil

• 1 x 50g tin anchovies, finely chopped (including oil)

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 100ml white wine

• 65ml cream

• 130g unsalted diced butter

• Juice 1 lemon

Method

1. Place a heavy based saucepan on medium low heat.

2. Add the rapeseed oil along with the oil reserved from the anchovies to the pot.

3. Add the finely chopped anchovies to the pot and cook for one minute.

4. Add the minced garlic and cook for a further 3 minutes.

5. Once the garlic and anchovies are softened and melted into the oil turn the heat up to medium high, stirring all the time as to not burn the garlic.

6. Add the white wine to the pot and boil to reduce by two thirds.

7. Add the cream to the pot and boil to reduce by half..

8. At this stage turn the heat down to the lowest possible temperature and gradually add a few cubes of the cold unsalted butter to the pot whisking to emulsify.

9. With each addition of butter to the pot whisk until the mixture is fully combined before adding any more.

10. Patience at the beginning of this process is essential so take your time. As you slowly add more of the butter the emulsion will become stronger and you’ll be able to add more butter at a time.

11. Once all the butter is added and you have a smooth sauce that coats the back of a spoon, add the lemon juice and taste to adjust the seasoning. Sometimes I like to finish this sauce with a little black pepper. You usually won’t need to add any salt to this recipe, depending on the saturation of salt in the anchovies you are using.

12. I love to serve this sauce with green vegetables, like blanched tender stem broccoli, roasted kalettes and wedges of cabbage or raw radishes, celery and kohlrabi. This accompanies a piece of steamed or baked fish excellently but also works well with a whole roast chicken or a steak.

Chef know-how

 

• Make sure you use a small sized whisk when adding the butter.
• I like to dice the butter and return to the fridge before adding to the sauce; this aids the emulsifying process.
• If the sauce splits as you're adding the butter, remove from the heat immediately, and add a splash of cream to bring it back.
• This sauce keeps well in the fridge for three days, but it will split when reheating.
• Add the split leftover bagna cauda to steamed queens’ potatoes for a wonderful side.