Bagna Càuda

Piedmont · antipasto · serves 6 · 60 min total · easy

The 'hot bath' — a winter rite of the Piedmontese countryside. Friends gather around a single warming pot, conversation slows, the anchovies do their alchemy.

Ingredients

• 200 g salt-packed anchovies, rinsed
• 12 cloves garlic, plenty
• 250 ml olive oil
• 50 g butter
• 250 ml milk
• 1500 g raw vegetables — cardoon, fennel, peppers, celery, Tropea onion

Method

1. Soak peeled garlic in milk for 1 hour to mellow.
2. Drain garlic, mash to paste. Combine with anchovies in a heavy clay pot or small pan.
3. Cover with olive oil. Cook over the lowest possible heat 30 minutes — the anchovies should dissolve into the oil, the garlic should melt. Never let it bubble.
4. Off heat, whisk in cold butter to silken it.
5. Bring to the table in a warming pot (a fojòt) over a candle. Dip raw vegetables into the warm sauce. A long, slow, social meal.

Browse all recipes by region