Anchovies

Preparation

Oil-cured fillets added directly

Very potent; used sparingly, a few fillets per pizza

Applied before baking.

Cautions

• combining with other very salty toppings easily oversalts the pizza

History and cultural context

A long-established Mediterranean preserved-fish tradition (salt-cured or oil-packed) that predates pizza itself, used as a savoury, salty flavouring across Southern European and Ligurian cooking — its use on pizza and pizza-adjacent flatbreads (including the pre-tomato Ligurian sardenaira/pizza all'Andrea tradition) is one of the older topping associations in this catalogue.

Traditional regions: Liguria, Italy, Naples, Italy

A genuinely divisive topping internationally — strongly traditional in several Italian regional styles, but one of the least popular optional toppings by consumer preference in the modern United States by various survey reporting.

• The Oxford Companion to Food — Oxford University Press

Pairs well with

• Chilli oil (finishing)

  Explicitly noted as a good balance for Anchovies. Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity. A finishing oil to add just before or after baking, rather than a bulk topping.

• Oregano (dried)

  Explicitly noted as a good balance for Anchovies. Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity.

• Sweet corn kernels

  Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity. Its sweetness balances Anchovies's savoury intensity. Adds textural contrast against Anchovies.

• Honey (post-bake drizzle)

  Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity. Its sweetness balances Anchovies's savoury intensity. Best added fresh after baking, for brightness against Anchovies.

• Pineapple

  Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity. Its sweetness balances Anchovies's savoury intensity.

• Fig

  Its low salt level offsets Anchovies's intensity. Its sweetness balances Anchovies's savoury intensity.

Styles using this topping

• Neapolitan pizzaRegionally commonGenerally accepted

  Used on some traditional variants beyond the two protected Margherita/Marinara toppings.

• Roman tondaTraditionalGenerally accepted

  A classic thin-crust Roman topping, used sparingly given its intensity.

• SfincioneTraditionalGenerally accepted

  A defining savoury component, traditionally worked into the topping mix rather than laid whole.

• New Haven apizzaTraditionalGenerally accepted

  A traditional topping on the classic tomato-pie (red) variant.

• Pizza MarinaraRegionally commonGenerally accepted

  Used on some traditional variants beyond the core four-ingredient marinara canon, adding a savoury, salty note.

• SardenairaDefiningSupported, with regional variation

  One of the style's defining flavour components in its cheese-free construction, its saltiness and umami carrying the topping in place of a melted cheese layer.

How it behaves on a pizza

How preparation changes what this ingredient contributes to the bake and the flavour.

• Anchovies: salt intensity and how it changes the whole pizza

  Anchovies are intensely salty and intensely savoury, and they dissolve into whatever they sit on rather than staying discrete. Used with anchovies, everything else on the pizza — sauce, cheese, dough — should be seasoned less than it otherwise would be.