Yellow Clam and Anchovy Soup
Ingredientes
One of the most popular fishermens soups in Malagueno home cooking, especially among the poorer households of the time, when clams and anchovies were almost looked-down-on ingredients that cost next to nothing.
Nowadays that has changed completely, not so much for the anchovy, although its price has also shot up, especially if it is from Malaga, but when it comes to clams we could say they are now almost the most expensive shellfish in the world, if you compare what a kilo costs against how little edible animal you are left with once you discard the shell.
Instructions
Put the water in a pot to heat and bring to the boil.
Rinse the clams thoroughly in plenty of water with salt so they release any sand, and leave them there while you clean the heads and bones out of the anchovies. Set aside.
In a mortar, add the garlic, fresh parsley, saffron and ground pepper along with a generous drizzle of olive oil. Grind everything as finely as you can.
Tip the whole pounded mixture into the pot and lower the water to a simmer.
Add the anchovies and clams and leave over medium heat for 4 minutes.
Once the soup has finished cooking, place the bread slices in each bowl and ladle the soup over them, “poncima” as they say in Malaga. A splash of lemon just before eating goes very well with it.
Curiosity
Even though the king of Malagueno fried fish is the “vitoriano” or Malagueno anchovy, overfishing of the Malaga fishing grounds has brought this almost native species, “engraulis encrasicolus”, known for its silvery scales and whiter flesh than Atlantic anchovies, to the brink of extinction.
The numbers speak for themselves: where ten thousand tonnes of anchovy used to be caught, now barely five hundred tonnes a year are landed, despite spring closed seasons and controls aimed at curbing bad fishing practices.
As a result, most of the anchovy catch landed at Malaga fish markets is already bought up by the province restaurants and chiringuitos, so what you will often find at the fishmonger is high-quality, very fresh anchovies that actually come from other stretches of the Spanish coast, such as Castellon and Tarragona.
