Colatura di alici, which is Italian for "anchovy drippings," is a traditional sauce produced by fermenting salted anchovies inside small chestnut barrels. It's prized for its umami flavor and very expensive, selling for $160 a liter. Here at Nettuno, the third-generation producer Giulio Giordano ages his anchovy sauce for three years to make sure it's the perfect color and flavor. But how exactly is this sauce made? And why is it so expensive?
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00:00 Today, Captain Gilles and his crew are setting out to catch over 20,000 pounds of something
00:10 very valuable, anchovies.
00:13 But once the fish come out of the water, time is of the essence.
00:20 Since these anchovies stay fresh for only 24 hours, everyone must move quickly to set
00:26 them on ice and head back to the coast where buyers eagerly wait.
00:38 In Giulio's hands, they'll become even more valuable.
00:43 He will extract all the oil from the fish and make a sauce that is worth $160 per litre,
00:50 which is four times more expensive than other popular fish sauces.
00:55 But the process will take three years.
00:59 Giulio needs to collect the sauce drop by drop.
01:03 So how do all these little fish get turned into sauce?
01:07 And what makes it so expensive?
01:16 Local fishermen head out to sea between April and November.
01:21 After attracting the anchovies with lights, Captain Gilles and his crew use purse-sane
01:35 nets to catch them.
01:41 The tightly woven nets are designed to trap the anchovies without entangling them.
01:59 Because of how large the nets are, fishermen need to be highly experienced to use them
02:26 effectively.
02:27 To maintain the anchovies' quality and price tag, it's crucial that they don't get crushed
02:33 or damaged in any way.
02:42 The bigger the anchovy, the more oil it will release, which helps result in the most flavourful
03:00 sauce.
03:03 To catch the biggest fish possible, Captain Gilles combines what he's learned from his
03:08 father with new technology.
03:11 Echo sounders not only help locate anchovies, but confirm their exact size and weight.
03:18 Larger anchovies sell for between €25 and €30 per crate at Italian fish markets.
03:47 When it comes to making high-quality Colatura di Alici, the Italian name for anchovy sauce,
04:05 the freshness of the anchovy makes all the difference.
04:17 Giulio's family has been making Colatura di Alici since 1915.
04:23 This is what most of his mornings look like during anchovy season.
04:28 Giulio has just received this morning's catch.
04:54 Once the anchovies have been cleaned, they're placed inside barrels full of salt.
05:02 Giulio uses high-quality Italian salt from Sicily.
05:13 After 24 hours in the salt, the anchovies are ready to be preserved and pressed.
05:31 The anchovies are placed inside terzini, small barrels made from chestnut wood.
05:59 When the wood comes into contact with salt, it hardens, fully sealing the anchovies inside.
06:11 Each barrel fits about 50 to 60 anchovies, depending on the size of the fish.
06:17 Salt kick-starts the release of liquids inside the anchovies.
06:22 It takes three years and about 50 to 60 pounds of fresh anchovies to produce just a litre
06:28 of anchovy sauce.
06:31 Making Colatura di Alici is a meticulous and time-consuming process, but one he thoroughly
06:37 enjoys.
06:38 What really
07:05 brings the salt, anchovies and the barrel together is weighing everything down with
07:11 a heavy stone.
07:35 To check if the sauce is ready, Giulio will drill directly into the barrels.
07:58 The Colatura di Alici drips out of the barrel slowly.
08:02 This is when Giulio can confirm the quality of the colour and aroma.
08:26 There is no way Giulio can speed up the process if he doesn't want to ruin the sauce.
08:31 It must come out at its own pace, drop by drop.
08:37 This makes authentic Colatura di Alici a true investment and the intensive labour involved
08:43 in producing such small amounts every year has meant a higher price tag.
08:57 The first batch of anchovies caught in early spring is transformed into Colatura di Alici
09:04 by December, so the sauce has become a traditional part of celebrating winter holidays.
09:10 "To me, Colatura is blood, it's home. This is the product that was used and is still used
09:24 on the day of the Immaculate Conception. In every house there was a tradition of making
09:31 spaghetti with Colatura. Colatura di Alici is a flipper at the Palato, because the traditional
09:40 part of the dish is sweet, salty, bitter. It's a complete flavour in my opinion."
09:46 Preserving this culture is a responsibility Giulio cherishes.
09:51 "It's the best thing I do, remembering the things my grandfather and father did."
09:57 [music]
10:04 (upbeat music)