Combo Pack: Let’s Make Gildas

The gilda is among the most traditional uses for anchovy fillets. Simple and endlessly variable, like all good things to eat. At its simplest it is a one-bite skewer of olive, anchovy, and guindilla pepper. It is often doubled, often riffed on with the addition of pickled cucumber, pickled onion, piquillo pepper, or other crunchy salty bits. We do not disapprove, but we have yet to see any variation surpass the original. If you’ve never had a gilda you’re probably thinking, “Egads, that must be salty.” If you’ve never had saucisson sec on buttered baguette you would think the butter superfluous. Not the case, in both cases. “It’s the acid of the pickled pepper, no, it’s the little bit of heat, no, it’s the two different oils of the olive and the anchovy, no, it’s the umami, no, it’s the crunchewy, no, hmm. More research required.”

Comes with a jar of Bernal Pitted Manzanilla Olives and a jar of Himafesa Guindillas en Vinagre (Basque Green Peppers in Vinegar) and a tin of Olasagasti Anchovy Fillets and a free dozen 4″ bamboo skewers, so that you can begin building right out of the box. But we chose the Olasagasti for no compelling reason other than we wanted the kit to have a default option. We can swap it out for any anchovy fillet we carry (and adjust the price accordingly), or if you already have your own anchovy fillets we can send just the olives and peppers and skewers and adjust the price. Just let us know in the “Order notes” as you check out if you would like us to customize for you.