A top Australian chef and restaurateur has revealed his secret trick for taking a simple margherita pizza to the next level. The recipe involves tinned fish.
Andrew McConnell is the owner of Melbourne’s renowned eateries Supernormal Brisbane, Apollo Inn and Cumulus Inc.
He told Good food He ‘cheats a little’ when ordering take-out by ordering two margherita pizzas, one for the kids and one for himself, and ‘pimps’ his pizza by topping it with a can of anchovies.
“Should I say this?” he asked, adding that he only orders pizza from Italian institution Freddy’s on Melbourne’s Chapel Street.
The Australian chef can’t get enough of the salty fish delicacies and says he loves it so much he often eats a tin of it on toast.
The intensely salty fish, a staple of Mediterranean cuisine, is considered by many to be an acquired taste. But Andrew is not the only one who raves about it.
A chef who had only tasted poor-quality anchovies was surprised to discover that quality versions of the fish, such as those made by Ortiz and beloved by chefs around the world, actually made an excellent addition to Italian cuisine.
“I tried some good anchovies with some pasta sauce and… it tastes like the sea. Still salty, but rich umami,” he said on Reddit.
Chef Andrew McConnell (pictured far right) now only gets takeaway pizzas from Freddy’s in Melbourne
The famous Australian chef and restaurateur orders two margheritas at Freddy’s in Melbourne and adds a can of anchovies to his pizza
Another fan said she couldn’t understand why the underrated food had such a bad reputation.
Many agreed that anchovies were the ‘most delicious food on earth’ and a common ingredient that enhanced the flavour of popular products such as Worcestershire sauce.
Others said that good anchovies are the foundation of all great Caesar salads, and yet another agreed with Andrew that they should be added to a pizza after it’s cooked, not before.
“If they sit on the pizza for the entire baking time, they will dry out, burn the omega-3 fats in the fish, and the smell will spoil,” they advised.
An Italian added that anchovies are a perfect addition to traditional Italian pizza and that people need pineapple as a topping to change their mind.