Gernika Peppers with Anchovies

Method

Get the peppers blistered and charred hard — this is a basque-cuisine foundation, the whole point of the dish. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the whole Gernika peppers (don't pierce them; they'll split and lose their juices) and leave them untouched for three to four minutes until the underside darkens and the skin bubbles. Turn them, then repeat on each face. You're looking for black patches and blistered, papery skin all over — not a gentle blush, but actual char. This takes ten to fifteen minutes depending on your heat and the peppers' thickness. The char develops flavour through maillard-reaction, converting sugars and proteins into hundreds of new compounds. Without it, you've got stewed peppers, not this dish.

When the last side has taken colour, crush the garlic cloves and add them directly to the hot oil. Kill the heat or drop it to medium immediately — garlic burns in seconds in this temperature. Stir constantly for ninety seconds; you want them just fragrant and pale gold, releasing their sulphurous bite into the oil. This is your flavour base; burnt garlic tastes bitter and ruins the whole plate.

Arrange the peppers on a serving plate while they're still warm — they soften slightly as they cool and accept seasoning better. Drizzle over the remaining oil and garlic. Season assertively with sea salt and black pepper. Top each pepper with an anchovy fillet, laying it along the length rather than folded in half (it'll break and it looks untidy). The salt in the anchovy will draw out the pepper's residual moisture, so don't undersalt beforehand — you need the initial seasoning to be prominent.

Serve warm or at room temperature. The oil will clarify and cool as it sits, which is correct; cold olive oil coats the mouth better and the pepper's sweetness comes through cleaner. Eat within an hour or two. The peppers collapse if you hold them longer than that.