Most for your money cookbook

There are two kinds of anchovies, the real ones which have reddish brown flesh, and other little fish, often called sardellen, which are nearly as good, but do not have the anchovy color. The big tins of them in Italian groceries are usually the true anchovies, beheaded, emptied and put down in salt. They must be soaked 2-3 hours in fresh water, changing it several times. Then the silver skin can be scraped a little, and the two fillets can be easily separated down the back with the ends of the two thumbs. They should come off the backbones neat and clean and be laid around the edge of a plate or platter to dry, when they are ready for any number of luxury dishes. They may be laid on fingers of toast their own size for canapes. They may be curled around any other tidbit, a bit of pickle, a caper, or what not; may be used to stuff olives, or hard-cooked eggs, or to garnish or go into a salad. Or for future use they may be put into a jar with some olive oil until they absorb it. But after being deprived of their salt they will only keep a day or two, unless they are completely immersed in oil and hermetically sealed. Several clever cooking tricks evolve around these gustful little fish. The Scandinavians add a savory touch to breaded veal cutlets by laying a hatchwork of anchovy fillets across each one. Vapid fish like the cod family are greatly improved if the flesh is gashed in three or four places and an anchovy fillet is laid in each cut. Or a couple of fillets may be thrown into the roasting pan, not only for baking fish but for lamb and beef as well, to enhance both meat and gravy. The gravy should be sieved. Anchovies are also an important ingredient in a number of expensive commercial sauces, which are very convenient to have on hand and are not difficult to make at home. ANCHOVY SAUCE yi POUND SALT ANCHOVIES I CUP VINEGAR yi TABLESPOON FLOUR SALT DASH CAYENNE I BAY LEAF I INCH LEMON PEEL I PARSLEY SPRIG I SPRIG THYME Soak anchovies 2 hours in water; clean and fillet them. Add a cup of cold water to trimmings, bones, herbs and lemon peel, simmer 15 minutes and strain. Blend flour smooth with a little water and add to the strained liquid. Beat fillets, a little at a time, to a paste, and add. Mix well, add cayenne and cook until thick and smooth. When cold, briskly stir in the vinegar. Salt to taste, put in a glass jar and keep tightly covered. Use a little to season gravies and sauces. Open-faced red caviar sandwiches or canapes, Soviet style, are just the thing to sell at a money-raising organizational party, for they cost but a cent apiece and keep everybody happy and coming back for more, not minding a bit that the appetizing saltiness creates a thirst that keeps the bartender busy. Buy whole loaves of Russian black bread and cut it as thin as you can, for thus it goes best with caviar. Be careful not to break the orange-colored salmon eggs, but preserve them intact by using a little wooden spoon or paddle to transfer them from package and strew them over the bread. Open sandwiches covered with minced hard-cooked egg white and minced onion, with a sprinkling of the egg yolk pressed over through a sieve, will disappear too, but only because the taste of these combines so well with the caviar. j X^. VII. Savory Spreads