La Bonne Mer Fisherman’s Anchovies

I’ve had this tiny tin of anchovies in my office stash for ages. I’d assumed all along that these were salt-cured anchovy fillets, and I was saving them to flavor the right salad or something. Wrongo—these are whole fish, treated like sardines. They’re packed in olive oil with lemon, garlic, and parsley. They’re really quite nice—if you like the white anchovies Patagonia offers, I expect you’ll enjoy these.

The basis of my lunch today was instant pad thai from Good to Go, my first outing with the brand. I’ve been generally horrified by the sodium content in various ramen and other instant noodle cups—often more than a day’s limit in a single serving—so the modest salt level here—270 mg/12% of daily recommended—caught my eye. And it’s good, it’s fine, it’s satisfying. And these lemony, garlicky anchovies really stepped things up. With slivers of what turned out to be right snappy hot peppers from our garden, a fun lunch adventure.

I also broke into the Melinda’s Hot Sauce 24-pack that one of my nice co-workers gave me. Certainly very handy at the office, and two of the sauces I hadn’t tried before. I know I already enjoy the truffle one, but today I hit my pad thai with the Fire Roasted Garlic and Habanero—actually fiery and good—and the Green Sauce—kid-friendly mildness, but still a flavorful addition.