Chef Juliette
Smelt (Éperlans)
Tiny éperlans, lightly floured and fried until their tails stand crisp, arrive in a generous heap on a napkin with fried parsley and grooved lemon, a weeknight lesson in heat and restraint.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Norwegian Anchovies or Kilkis
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 307, Norwegian Anchovies or Kilkis, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Anchois de Norvège ou Kilkis asks for no cooking and no decoration: lay the ready-cured fish in their own liquor, then stop while their briny, silvery character remains clear.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Weeknight
Picnic
Budget Friendly
5 min
Active Time
0 min cook•5 min total
Yield4 appetizer servings
Anchois de Norvège ou Kilkis (ready-cured Norwegian anchovies or kilkis) teaches restraint: the curing liquor is already the dressing. The one true thing to know before touching a pan is that no pan belongs here. Good preserved fish needs neither lemon nor oil to explain itself.
The source entry assumed none of a brigade's scaffolding: no saucier, no stockpot kept on the fire, no salamander. It assumed a provisioner selling the fish fully prepared and a ravier (small hors-d'œuvre dish) waiting for service. The honest home equivalent is one small tin, four modest portions, and a spoonful of that same liquor. Because the source gives no quantity, only the scale has changed. The method and flavor remain exactly where the entry placed them.
The finished dish should be cool, silvery, and lightly glossy, with just enough amber liquor to wet the plate. The only step that matters is lifting the tender fish without stripping away their cure; handle them gently, spoon over their own liquor, and stop.
In the French canon, Anchois de Norvège ou Kilkis belongs to the cold hors-d'œuvre table rather than to a French fishing region. The paired names were commercial ones: the provisioner supplied the small fish already cured and held in their own liquor, so the kitchen's work was selection and service, not cooking. The lack of lemon, herbs, or added oil is deliberate, preserving the flavor established by the cure instead of covering it.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ready-cured Norwegian anchovies or Kilkis
Quantity
1 small tin or jar (about 3¾ oz / 105 g net), with 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon (10 to 15 ml / about 10 to 15 g) packing liquor
opened just before serving, liquor reserved
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ready-cured Norwegian anchovies or Kilkisopened just before serving, liquor reserved | 1 small tin or jar (about 3¾ oz / 105 g net), with 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon (10 to 15 ml / about 10 to 15 g) packing liquor |
Equipment Needed
- •Small oval ravier or hors-d'œuvre dish
- •Small fork or narrow palette knife
- •Teaspoon measure
Instructions
- 1
Open and inspect
Set the ravier beside you, then open the tin or jar immediately before serving. Reserve the packing liquor in a small cup rather than pouring it away. The fish should smell clean, saline, and pleasantly cured. If the container is swollen or leaking, or the contents smell sour or rancid, discard them; unsafe preserving cannot be rescued.
- 2
Arrange the fish
Lift the fish one at a time with a small fork or narrow palette knife, letting only the heaviest excess liquor drip away. Lay them in a loose, slightly overlapping row without rinsing, blotting, or pressing them flat; the seasoned surface is the dish. If one breaks, ça se rattrape: nestle the pieces together in its original shape and leave them alone. The liquor will restore their sheen.
Work from beneath each fish rather than gripping it from above. Ready-cured fish can be delicate, and pressure turns a clean hors-d'œuvre into paste. - 3
Spoon and serve
Spoon 2 teaspoons (10 ml / about 10 g) of the reserved liquor over and around the fish, adding the remaining teaspoon only if the plate still looks dry. You want a light gloss and a shallow wetting of the ravier, not a deep pool. If you add too much, tilt the dish and lift away the excess with a teaspoon. Add no lemon, herbs, pepper, or oil. Serve at once. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Buy a product labeled ready-cured or ready to eat, with packing liquor intended to accompany the fish. Plain oil-packed anchovy fillets are a different preparation and do not reproduce this entry.
- •Serve the fish cool but not frozen or numb with cold. Strong refrigeration flattens the cure, so arrange them only when the table is ready.
- •Once opened, transfer any leftovers and their liquor to a clean nonreactive container, cover, refrigerate, and follow the producer's storage directions. Never keep leftovers in an opened metal tin.
- •A very dry white wine suits the salt and cure. Keep the glass simple and the fish unadorned; cooking well is not cooking fancy.
Advance Preparation
- •Set out the serving dish and utensils in advance, but leave the package sealed until the moment of service. Arranged too early, the exposed fish begin to dry.
- •For a picnic, transport the unopened package according to its label, with the ravier and fork packed separately. Open and arrange the fish only when everyone is ready to eat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 30g)
Calories
55 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
0 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
8 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Hors-d’Œuvres
Browse the full collection
Chef Juliette
Brandade de Morue
Brandade de Morue turns salt cod, warm olive oil, and milk into a pale, silky emulsion: keep everything warm and add the oil slowly, then crown the generous dome with butter-fried bread.
Chef Juliette
Brandade de Morue à la Crème
Salt cod worked warm with cream, one patient spoonful at a time, until the rough flakes become a glossy Nîmes paste, domed generously and ringed with butter-fried croutons for the table.
Chef Juliette
Potted Char
Wine-poached char packed in its earthenware crock beneath butter gold: a make-ahead first course that turns careful cooling, thorough boning, and one unbroken seal into quiet abundance.