The European anchovy is a small fish of great importance. Anchovy fish - beneficial properties How anchovy reproduces

Sea fish of Crimea May 19, 2014

Anchovy differs from other small pelagic fish in its very large mouth, extending far beyond the posterior edge of the eye right up to the bones of the gill cover; the lower jaw noticeably does not reach the end of the snout. The body is low, elongated, moderately compressed laterally.

Engraulis encrasicolus

There are two types of anchovy - Black Sea and Azov. They differ from each other in some morphological characteristics and biological features. The Black Sea anchovy is characterized by a dark blue back, it reaches larger sizes - usually up to 12-14 cm, less often - up to 20 cm. The color of the upper part of the body of the Azov anchovy is light gray, less often greenish, and the size, as a rule, does not exceed 9 -10 cm, maximum - 13 cm.

With some experience, you can distinguish them by taste. The meat of the Black Sea anchovy is denser, while the meat of the Azov one is tender and juicy. After feeding, in the fall, the Black Sea anchovy is significantly inferior in fat content to the Azov one.

Experienced fishermen also distinguish such a form as the estuary (Danube, relict), which in late autumn and early winter forms fishing aggregations in the Karkinitsky Gulf and along the western coast of Crimea. In size it is close to the Black Sea one, but has a taller body, and in taste characteristics it resembles the Azov one.

It should be noted that discussions regarding the identification of various subspecies of anchovy have been lively for more than 100 years, but its taxonomic status has not been finally established.

In the warm season, the Black Sea anchovy is widespread in the Black Sea and can also be found in the Azov Sea. Spawning occurs from May to September, fecundity is 20-26, maximum 31 thousand pelagic eggs, which are spawned in 2-3 portions. Reaches sexual maturity at the age of 1 year, life expectancy is 2-3, rarely 4 years. Feeds on zooplankton.

In warm weather, at the end of April, the Azov anchovy enters the Sea of Azov, where it actively breeds and feeds until October, and then migrates for the winter to the southern coast of Crimea, but in larger numbers to the shores of the Caucasus. The biological features are in many ways similar to the Black Sea anchovy, but life expectancy usually does not exceed three years.

Anchovy is a typical marine pelagic species; in the warm season it stays sparse and forms dense aggregations during migration and wintering. The number of anchovy can vary significantly, which is typical for all pelagic fish, especially species with a short life cycle.

From ancient times to the present day, anchovy has been an important fishery object off the coast of Crimea. The ancient Greeks delivered salted anchovy to Greece in amphoras, and the refrain of the song of the fishermen of the Bosporan kingdom: “... what would have happened to us if there had been no anchovy” emphasizes the importance of this species in the Crimean fishery.

Numerous pits for its salting can be seen in Chersonesus, near Kerch and in other ancient coastal cities of Crimea. The scale of salting of anchovy can be judged from archaeological excavations in the city of Tiritak, located on the shores of the Kerch Strait. In 48 tanks, the capacity of which was 477 m³, about 2.8 thousand tons of fish were salted per year, but this was only a part of the city’s salting complexes.

Since the early 90s of the 19th century, off the Crimean coast, after a long break associated with the conquest of Crimea by the Tatars, coastal anchovy fishing began to recover, and after 20 years, in terms of catch volumes, this species took first place among other commercial fish, which it held almost the entire past century.

Before World War I, the average annual catch of anchovy in Crimea was 7.4-8.2 thousand tons; 50-60% of the catch came from the Kerch region and 25-30% from the Sevastopol region. With particular impatience, the residents of Crimea awaited the arrival of anchovy during the hungry years of 1920-1922. It was during the most difficult period - in the spring - that anchovy came in very large numbers to the shores of the peninsula, and, in fact, saved the local population from starvation, for which it deserves the creation of a monument to it, like the monument to the “Breadwinner Bull” erected in Berdyansk.

By the beginning of the 90s, there was a sharp decline in anchovy stocks, which is associated with its overfishing and the introduction of the predatory ctenophore Mnemiopsis, the biomass of which in these years alone in the Black Sea reached a billion tons. Mnemiopsis not only undermined the food supply of many fish by eating planktonic organisms, but also fed directly on pelagic organisms, i.e. developing in the water column, fish eggs and larvae.

In subsequent years, the number of anchovy increased significantly. Anchovy is caught mainly with purse seines and pelagic trawls, seiners and trawlers, respectively, and, to a lesser extent, with coastal fixed seines.

How to cook anchovy (recipes)

Since ancient times, the main method of preparing anchovy was salting. In coastal cities, stew or shkara is quite popular, when a little vegetable oil is first poured onto a frying pan or baking sheet, then onions and fish are laid in layers, each layer is sprinkled with salt and spices, a little acetic acid and water are added and simmered over low heat. For shkara you can also use sprat, horse mackerel and red mullet.

Anchovy is very tasty, especially in the fall, when it is most fatty, if it is prepared as follows.

To a saturated salt solution (i.e. the salt stops dissolving), add acetic acid to taste, spices - allspice and black pepper, cloves, bay leaf, cardamom - in a separate bowl, bring to a boil and pour into a container for salting fish, place it there as well onion, cut into rings, garlic and various ground spices, such as suneli hops, ground red pepper and finally put the anchovy and put it in the refrigerator. After 12 hours the fish is ready.

If the anchovy is frozen, then do not wait until it has completely melted, but place it in the prepared salamur as soon as it becomes possible to separate the fish.

Anchovy fried in hot olive oil is very tasty. According to Crimean cooking traditions, especially in the months when anchovy, sprat, mackerel, red mullet, small bluefish, etc. are the most fatty, the fish is fried whole, i.e. not cleaned or gutted.

Today is not a typical review for me, about FISH! Yes, about fish, I saw that on Airek there is not a single review about KHAMSE and decided to write.

In fact, I am not a fish eater; I feel fine without fish. I don’t like to clean fish, and I don’t even know how to clean some fish properly or what can be cooked from it. But it so happens that I live near the sea and am gradually adapting to the local food habits.

Anchovy This is one of the varieties of European anchovy. In autumn, anchovy from the Sea of Azov swims en masse to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait and lies in wintering pits. Anchovy fishing takes place from October to May, but the anchovy harvested in the autumn season is considered the most delicious.

The most common way to prepare anchovy is lightly salted anchovy.

Preparation: Fresh anchovy is generously sprinkled with regular rock salt and waited for 4-6 hours, washed in cold water and eaten, for example, with boiled potatoes. Local residents eat anchovy within 1 hour after it is salted.

The photo shows lightly salted anchovy, I like to peel it from the backbone in advance and eat it with clean hands, but few people do this, they usually clean it and eat it right away.

Another option for preparing anchovy is fresh anchovy stew.

Preparation: fresh anchovy, rinse in water, remove the head and intestines, leave the ridge or remove it - if desired, I leave it. Fry onions and fresh tomatoes in a frying pan, then place the prepared anchovy on top, add salt, pepper and bay leaf. Fill with water so that the anchovy is lightly covered with liquid and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid closed. All is ready. You just need to eat it with bread.

And the last option for today - "chips" from anchovy.

Preparation : fresh anchovy, rinse in water, remove the head and intestines, leaving the backbone. Salt, pepper, roll in flour and fry in a large amount of oil, like chips or French fries. All is ready. The result is such a crispy, tasty fish that goes great with beer. She's like sunflower seeds, you won't calm down until you eat them all)

Prices for anchovy vary from 50 rubles during poutine to 200 rubles before the start of poutine per 1 kilogram.

We sell fresh and lightly salted anchovy at the grocery market in fish aisles, and in stores you can find lightly salted hamsa in buckets like this.

I often hear that lightly salted anchovy tastes like black caviar, but I can’t confirm it, I haven’t compared it. The greatest similarity is achieved in this way: they make a bread and butter sandwich, put lightly salted anchovy on top (peeled from the head, intestines and backbone) and wash it all down with sweet tea. Like this.

Kerchan residents cannot live without fish, they constantly eat - anchovy, sprat, herring, pilengas, red mullet, goby, horse mackerel, mullet, garfish, flounder and a bunch of other fish that I don’t remember.

Before the start of the autumn season for anchovy, the local population begins to feel withdrawal symptoms; everyone wants anchovy.

Conclusions: An excellent fish that does not require peeling, is simple, quick to process and prepare. Many options for preparing fresh fish. I recommend trying it.

Conclusions for yourself: This is one of the types of fish that I am “not a fish eater” and enjoy eating and cooking, which I will continue to do in the future.

Tip of the day: At home, salted anchovy, not washed of salt, can simply be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month in a glass jar under a plastic lid.

Interesting Facts:

According to information from old-timers, during the Second World War, people survived thanks to fish that were caught in the sea, mostly anchovy. In 1947, anchovy in Kerch cost 1 ruble per bucket; residents salted it in large wooden barrels under a load, then soaked it and consumed it until the next season. Therefore, Kerch avoided famine even during the war.
The indigenous Kerchans call anchovy kamsa, but I couldn’t find out why.
During Putin, prices and sales of meat drop by 30% for anchovy in the city.

Thank you for your attention

It would seem that they are very similar - small salted fish... However, both in taste and in dishes anchovy, anchovy and sprat- these are three big differences. If you don’t know about this, then you can easily get sprat under the guise of an anchovy.

How to distinguish anchovy from sprat and capelin

Anchovy is a subspecies of the Mediterranean anchovy Engraulis encrasicholus. Black Sea anchovy Engraulis encrasicholus ponticus smaller than anchovy, Azov anchovy Engraulis encrasicholus maeoticus- even smaller. It is very easy to recognize any anchovy (and therefore anchovy) by sight: the end (corner) of their mouth extends beyond the back end of their eye, if you count from the tip of the snout. Specifically, like this:

Sprat as well as sprat, so warmly recommended as an anchovy substitute, belong to the family Herring Clupeidae(and in appearance they are quite typical tiny herrings). For comparison, look at the picture:

Located on top capelin lies there for scale. Followed by 2 copies anchovy and 2 copies of the Black Sea sprat Clupeonella delicatula(which I would personally translate as “delicate herring”). There are about ten species of sprat in total, and not one of them is even distantly related to the anchovy. However, the differences in taste are much more important.

Subtleties of taste of anchovy and sprat

Anchovy significantly fattier than sprat, and the chemical composition of anchovy fats is very different from the chemical composition lipids sprat.

The second difference is in the cooking methods. Sprat It is sold mainly spicy salted, in barrels or in preserves. Hamsa is salted without adding spices, so as not to distort its unique taste. Here she is in the photo:

What is lightly salted anchovy and what is it eaten with?

Occasionally you can find fresh frozen anchovy, and then you can’t hesitate - defrost it, then add not too much salt, mix it properly in a container or glass jar, cover it with parchment and put it in the refrigerator for a week. The result is tenderness embodied.

Anchovy but, despite the family relationship with anchovy, it is salted completely differently, not like sprat and not like anchovy. Firstly, manufacturers deliberately and very strongly over-salt. Secondly, anchovy the ambassador is a very long one, at least six months, or even a year. During this time, a radical process of protein fermentation occurs, and the tender anchovy flesh acquires a dense, rough texture. This is how the anchovy, when fairly hardened, is sold. This is how they add it to pizza and salad. nicoise, V spaghetti.

Personally, I prefer spicy-salted sprat and lightly salted anchovy in a gourmet style: with black coffee, carefully removing the fillet halves from the backbone with the tine of a fork. Or classically: with a glass of ice-cold vodka, when you can simply take the fish by the head with two fingers, and even pull the flesh off the spine with your teeth. Otherwise, eat it like that, with all the bones.

Anchovy stew

During the anchovy fishing season, a dish called “stew” is popular in Kerch - and it seems that it is not prepared anywhere else. In a deep frying pan, sauté onions and sweet peppers, then lay out a layer of anchovy 3-4 cm thick, and crumble tomatoes on top - as much as you want. Sometimes finely chopped and fried carrots and (or) also a layer of raw potatoes, cut into thin circles, are added between the onions, peppers and fish. All layers are salted; You can also trim a little hot pepper. Then pour a glass of water into the frying pan, cover with a lid and place on low heat. After 20-25 minutes, the Kerch stew is ready. And when the residents of Kerch say “stew”, they do not mean canned meat, but precisely this.

Which leads a life in flocks, lives in the seas and oceans, in common people is usually called sprat. Hamsa has always been a very popular commodity; it is second only to bread. In ancient times, the Romans and Greeks bought this fish from ordinary fishermen. This is evidenced by many archaeological finds.

The fish is quite small in length, the average size is 20 centimeters, but smaller ones are also found. It is blackish-gray in color.

This fish is quite peaceful and harmless, feeds on plankton and small algae, however, it is very tenacious. It easily tolerates temperature changes and thrives in seawater with high salinity.

There are many varieties of this fish, but only 3 species are eaten. It is highly valued on the world market, not so much for its taste, but for its affordable price. On store shelves it is most often presented in salted form; if you want to buy fresh and cook it yourself, then go to the market.

The main method of preparing fish is salting, however, this does not mean that it is the only one. Fish is good both boiled and fried. You can use it to make minced fish, which is perfect for making fish cutlets. Fish can be considered as 100 grams of the product contains only 90 kcal.

Useful properties of anchovy

Grain crop barley. Useful properties and use in folk medicine, selection and proper storage

Application of anchovy

As mentioned above, anchovy can be found on sale in salted form, this is the main way of consuming it. It tastes like sprat, but anchovy is fattier, its meat is more pink and tender.

However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just salting. The fish can be boiled or fried, and in this form it goes well with potatoes. This fish, if you purchased it fresh, can be prepared in any way: cook it into soup, bake with vegetables or stew, mince it and make fish cutlets.

And abroad you can see more refined ways of preparing fish. It is used to make sauce, pate, stew, and added to various salads. If desired and with special skill, such fish can even be stuffed.

Harm of anchovy to the human body

There is no harm as such from this fish, however, those who are allergic to fish products should not eat it.

Problems can arise if a person is a lover of salted fish and enjoys anchovy in this form too often:

Very often, unscrupulous sellers put spoiled or simply low-quality fish into salting, so there is a chance it will be used. However, it is very easy to avoid this; you just need to buy fresh fish and salt it yourself at home.
If you eat salted fish, the salt will accumulate in the bones, and this will lead to

Anchovy, or European anchovy(Engraulis encrasicolus) is a fish of the anchovy family of the herring order. Widely distributed throughout the eastern Atlantic, Black and Mediterranean Seas, found in the Baltic, Azov and North Seas, as well as off the coast of Somalia. Anchovies that enter the Sea of Azov in the summer are classified as a separate subspecies - the Azov anchovy, or grayback, and fish that constantly live in the Black Sea are classified as the Black Sea subspecies.
European anchovies are important commercial fish, caught in large quantities by purse seines and set seines. The fatty meat of anchovy has excellent taste; it is especially good when salted and smoked, as well as canned. In the coastal regions of Bulgaria, fried anchovy is popular and is sold in local establishments as a light snack with beer.

Appearance
The Hamsa has an elongated body covered with thin scales and a pointed snout protruding above a large mouth. The color of the belly and sides is silver, the back is greenish.
The size of anchovy is small. On average, the fish grows to 12-15 centimeters, reaching a weight of 10-20 grams. The maximum length of the European anchovy is 20 centimeters.

Lifestyle
Hamsa is a schooling fish that lives in the coastal areas of the seas in the water column. In the warm season, European anchovies stay higher to the surface of the water, and in winter they drop deeper - up to 140 meters in the Black Sea and up to 150-200 meters in the Mediterranean. Anchovy feeds mainly on zooplankton (primarily copepods), but in small quantities it can also eat phytoplankton. Anchovies themselves often become prey for herring, pike perch, dolphins and birds of prey, while eggs and larvae serve as food for jellyfish, sagitta and sprat.

Reproduction
Anchovy usually reaches sexual maturity in the second year of life. Spawning takes place in the warm season: in the Black and Mediterranean Seas - from April to September, in the Azov Sea - from May to September, and in the North Sea - from May to July. Off the coast of Africa, where the water temperature is constantly high, anchovies breed all year round.
Each female produces an average of 20-25 thousand eggs, which are spawned in several portions. At a water temperature of 22-23 degrees, the larvae hatch from the eggs within 1.5 days after spawning. On the second day, anchovy larvae begin to actively feed on juvenile copepods.
The life expectancy of the European anchovy is short - only 2-3 years, while only 10% of the population survives to the age limit.