Bagna Cauda (Anchovy Sauce)

Fillet the anchovies and remove the salt from the fillets. If the fillets have been preserved in oil, drain well as the oil is not usually of the best quality.

Wash the anchovies and crush them into a pulp using a pestle and mortar.

Finely chop the garlic and marinate it in the milk for a couple of hours (this softens the flavour of the garlic and makes it easier to digest. (If the garlic is really fresh, you can skip this step).

Melt the butter with the oil in an earthenware pan (use a glazed pan if you don’t have an earthenware one), add the anchovy pulp and mix it into the butter and oil over a very low heat.

Remove the finely chopped garlic from the milk, drain well and then mix it in with the anchovies, butter and oil. Continue to cook over a low heat for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, clean the vegetables and cut them into small pieces. Place the vegetables on a serving dish and dip them in the hot sauce.

Parboil the cauliflower florets in salted water for five minutes and then drain.

Set a spirit stove (or an electric hot plate) in the middle of the table, and place the pan containing the bagna cauda on the stove (it needs to be kept hot throughout the meal). Place the serving dish with the vegetables in the middle of the table as well.

Take a piece of vegetable, dip it in the bagna cauda and enjoy.

Wine Pairing: Barbera d’Alba