Anchovy Toast

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 slices bread
• clarified butter
• anchovy paste
• made mustard
• a few grains cayenne

Method

Toast the bread properly. A dry oven-rack toast gives you clean crunch and lets the anchovy paste sit on a neutral base; frying in clarified butter builds a savoury crust that competes with the fish. Choose one. Oven-toasting suits the paste's intensity — the butter version works if you want the toast itself to carry umami load, though you risk oversalting. Heat your oven to 200°C. Lay the slices flat on a rack set over a tray (not directly on racks; they'll sag). Toast for 6–8 minutes until the surface shows even colour and the edges curl slightly inward. The bread should be hard enough that it won't soak anchovy oil within the first minute, but still give way cleanly when bitten.

While the toast cools for one minute, combine your anchovy paste with made mustard — about one part mustard to two parts paste — and a pinch of cayenne. The mustard's sharpness cuts through the fish oil and salt, preventing the paste from sitting flat on the palate. Cayenne adds a delayed heat that arrives after the umami lands. Mix until even, tasting as you go. Anchovy paste varies wildly in salt content; some brands are nearly brined. If it tastes aggressively mineral, thin it slightly with softened butter — the fat mellows the salt and spreads more easily.

Spread the mixture onto the warm toast using the back of a small spoon, working from the centre outward in a thin, even layer. You want coverage without thickness; this is not a sandwich spread. Thick applications overwhelm rather than season. The warmth of the toast will soften the paste slightly, making it flow rather than resist. If the paste tears the surface, the bread has cooled too much — reheat it briefly.

Serve immediately, while the toast still carries heat. The warmth activates the cayenne and softens the paste just enough that it releases its savoury oils across the palate. Cold toast turns the dish solid and harsh.