Anchovies. Jon Bon Jovies.

I read about a recipe the other day involving popeye, superheated olive oil, garlic, and anchovies. It is for bread. It was a snack for early morning harvesters of grapes, a dip or sauce type condiment. The hot olive oil, over time, dissovles the anchovies and melts the mashed garlic. Why don't I ever think about anchovies? This is something that had to get done. I went searching for anchovies. I bought a brand packed in oil, sold by a regional importer whose goods I have trusted. Curious micro filets, pinkish. Not necessarily cheap either. This was all very exciting for me. Trying new ingredients is essential to the gustatory journey. For me, that is also partially how entertainment is derived from cooking. Also useful for expanding the culinary repetoire, unlocking the flavor secrets.

Precisely al dente linguine is a significant pleasure to consume, and a frquent and favorite pasta of mine. I wanted to recreate a dish I watched Giada prepare some months ago, but I wanted to use the anchovies. Pasta is easy, so I went mostly from memory.

Linguine
Lemon
butter
garlic
bon jovies
parsely
salt
pepper
parmesan
shrimp
scallions
capers (why wouldn't you)

I heated the olive about medium, and added the garlic and the anchovies. I turned down after stirring. I chopped the garlic extra fine (Goodfellas style), to speed up the process. Turning the heat down slightly, I added about half of the parsely and scallions, and later, some real lemon juice, about 3/4 of a small lemon.
Then I added a small amount of butter, two or three thin pads off of the knife. By this time, the garlic and the anchovies had completely infused the oil; lemon, light butter sauce.

I added the shrimp last, ensuring that they were relatively dry and completely thawed. They cooked quickly, and lent a distinct shellfish taste to counter the smokey, dense, intense, flavor of the anchovies, and what been a sizable quantity of freshly chopped garlic. Just before the perfectly cooked pasta was going into the pan, I seasoned it heavy with black pepper and very light on the salt.

Having already shaved and showered the parmesan, making it rain all over the place, like I didn't even care, like a sultan, like Edward Scissorhands sculpting cheese, I added the pasta to the moongravy, and turned off the heat. I added capers, parm, and the remainder of the parsely and scallions and very small amount of fresh garlic, and squeezed the quarter of lemon leftover directly onto the mixture. I then mixed it up as thouroughly as possible. Had to ensure that there would no naked strands of linguine. I wanted everything coated, or ensconced in velvety moongravy.

The smell of the pasta was unquestionably funky, distinct, but not necessarily unpleasant, as the garlic remains the heaviest smell, the goliath of kitchen of smells, andre the giant of food perfumes (r.i.p. 'dre; sweet lou). It smelled like something I wanted to enjoy.

The gustatory gospel was again revealed to me, and the prophet was anchovies. If this dish had four ingredients, and those ingredients were linguine, olive oil, anchovies, and garlic, it would still be fantaste-ic. The anchovies give the pasta what pasta needs, what pasta has been missing, a reunion of sorts, with flavors that kick ass. They provide a very deep and heavy flavor, but this sauce is still as light as you want it to be. I didn't really need capers or scallions, or lemon juice for matter, or butter. I would say it didn't need cheese, but that's sacriligious here. And the decisions to include these items have seen no regret. I could not stop eating the stuff, and tried unsuccesfully to graft a fork onto my person just to make things more convenient. Really very delicious, and something that will be revised many times in the near future. I am going to try spinning off of that base sauce of anchovy and garlic.

Anchovies rock and bon jovi also still does something like that, I suppose. Bon jovies. I like the theme from young guns deux. This is the ingredient that, if wielded correctly, has the capacity to create joy. I am looking forward to seeing where the bon jovies will take me in the future. Moongravy is off of the bone delectable.