The anchovy (engraulis encrasicolus) grows up to 20 centimetres in length and, like the slightly larger sardine (sardina pilchardus), belongs to the clupeiformes order (a particularly large family that also includes Kiel sprats, Dutch soused herring, and the common herring).

Both varieties live in shoals in transitional areas between the temperate north and polar zones, and thus can be found in the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and in the entire North Atlantic, all the way to Greenland and North Carolina. According to biologists they eat plankton, small crustaceans, fish eggs and fish larvae.

A great deal of anchovies (and sardines) ultimately find their way into small, brightlycoloured metal cans, after having been filleted, salted and covered in oil. They are particularly popular in the Mediterranean region, where they are eaten as canapés and in salads (such as the salade niçoise), or as anchovy paste (anchoiade). In northern Europe, small herrings are preferred – less salt tends to be added, and the fish are sold in oil with herbs and spices.

Properly packaged, they slowly mature and become softer, and both anchovies and sardines are inextricably linked with the tins they are sold in. It was Nicolas Appert, a chef and confectioner, who in 1804 founded the world’s first ever canning factory in Ivry-sur-Seine, south of Paris. In 1810, he was awarded with a prize by the French interior minister for the conservation process he had developed, though this was only on the condition that he would publicise the method in a book.

The result was Appert’s legendary piece “Livre de tous les ménages, ou l’Art de Conserver” (“The Art of Preserving Animal and Vegetable Substances for Many Years”, 1810). He conserved food by placing it in a glass container and sealing it firmly, then heating everything together.

Known today as preserving, he further refined this technique and began to use tin cans (which he had discovered in England) in 1812. The Breton then held the global monopoly for tinned sardines until 1880, when competition emerged from Spain and Portugal, countries that still control the market today.

Vintage anchovies (after ten years or so, they melt on the tongue and become creamy) have been enjoyed by gourmets around the world for many years now – as a look back over the last one hundred years proves: at the beginning of the 20^th century, Vyvyan Holland (1886–1967), the second son of Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd, founded a vintage sardine club with its own sardine waiter.

Regular tasting sessions were held, and the society developed a theory that could still be true today (though it is as yet unproven): every vintage year for Sauternes is followed by an excellent one for sardines. And if you’re interested, 2004 is said to have been an excellent year for the dessert wine…