White Anchovy Dakos Toasts and Prawn Rolls

Recipe

These are the tastiest little summer morsels ever. Perfect as a seafood canape or starter, especially for those who appreciate these Mediterranean salty numbers - the white anchovy (in Spain they are known as boquerones). White anchovies are much milder than the well-known Italian pizza variety - more like mini, soft, tender fillets of white, salty fish.

I also love twisting this recipe into a prawn brioche roll version. I base this recipe on all the same components - the preserved lemon mayo, the pickled fennel and the tomato and herb topping – filling them into a brioche hotdog bun cut into halves or thirds, filled with freshly cooked and peeled prawns. Pictured below.

Recipe based on, and found in, the fare exchange section of the Gourmet traveller magazine, by Xanthi restaurant.

Makes 12 nibbles. DF.GF depending on choice of bread.

Pictured: White anchovy dakos* by Xanthi

12 slices sourdough/baguette*

2 tomatoes, in season and full of flavour- chopped

12 - 24 white anchovy fillets, i.e. use 1 or 2 per serving

Lemon wedges and extra virgin olive oil to serve

* or cut 4 slices from a large loaf and then cut into thirds

Preserved lemon mayonnaise

2 tbsp kewpie mayonnaise

1 qtr. preserved lemon, flesh discarded, skin finely chopped

Pickled fennel

1 fennel bulb

50ml white wine vinegar

50ml extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 tbsp fennel seeds, dry-roasted

1 tbsp coriander seeds, dry-roasted

¼ cup each flat-leaf parsley and coriander, coarsely chopped

For pickled fennel – prepare the fennel - outer leaves removed and shaved on a mandolin, or slice as finely as possible. Combine fennel, vinegar, oil, garlic and spices in a non-reactive container, season with salt and pepper and refrigerate overnight to develop the flavours. Just before serving, drain the fennel and toss with fresh parsley and coriander.

Preserved lemon mayonnaise – mix ingredients together, season a little. Refrigerate until serving.

Toast the baguette or pieces of sourdough til dry and crispy – best way it to lay them on a tray in a slow oven at 110°C and cook 1 hour or more – you could use your favourite cracker too.

Spread the bread with mayonnaise, top with tomato and pickled fennel, then the anchovies, drizzle with oil and serve with the lemon wedges.

*Dakos - “Similar to Italian bruschetta, dakos is made with a twice-baked bread rusk from Greece. It’s the toppings that make the dish so memorable. The Cretans prefer toppings with juicy tomatoes, cheese (Cretan mizithra, feta or other soft cheese) and garnished with a drizzle of EVOO and oregano. When topped with a Kalamata olive, once assembled, if you look straight down, the dakos resembles the eye of an owl, which is why in Crete the dish is also referred to as Koukouvagia (owl).”

Pictured: A prawn brioche roll version of the Dakos recipe