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Anchovy paste

19K views 30 replies 13 participants last post by  allanmcpherson 
#1 ·
How long does it keep in the fridge after opening?
 
#4 ·
Well for starters it depends what you're planning to do with the stuff. 

Sure I prefer smooshing up my own fresh as well, but  I think you'll 

find that a tube of paste keeps as long as you'll need it to, provided it's kept 

refrigerated after opening. I don't have a personal brand preference. 
 
#6 ·
I use the Amore brand tomato paste and they also have anchovy paste.  I've never bought it.  I always open up a fresh can of anchovies each time I need anchovy paste but I don't use all of it, and then I store it away but throw it out.  Does the anchovy paste keep well because of how much salt is in it?
 
#7 ·
The packaging helps too. Only the bit at opening is exposed to air and such. Minimal oxidation and contamination. I'll often discard the 1/4 inch or so in the tip because it dried a bit or discolored. How long it keeps? I've never had it go bad so i don't know; 8 weeks at least i think.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Unofficially I would quietly say it lasts longer than that even. I was making....something....Ceasar maybe?...

grabbed up a half full tube of Anch Paste squeezed it out, looked and smelled fine, used a couple teaspoons

of it....then later got to thinking....wait--when did I BUY that? I never did figure it out but it was longer than

8 weeks I know that. It's like Phatch said, it can't get air much so it stays almost vac-sealed.

Makes ya wonder...if we left our toothpaste out in an open container, would it spoil? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif
 
#10 ·
My local grocer had the Reese brand anchovy paste on my  last visit. I've not used that one. Any opinions on it?

I noticed they also had a Cento brand tomato past in a tube to compete with the Amore. The Cento was cheaper. I picked one up to see if I can tell a difference. It would be hard to differentiate I think with how tomato paste is commonly used. 
 
#11 ·
I've tried several brands and it's pretty much all the same I mean a processed anchovy is a processed anchovy.  Back home in Greektown we got whole anchovies packed in layers of salt - now that's an anchovy.  

It's cheaper for me to buy tomato paste in the can and I usually use half and save half in a ziploc and keep it in the fridge.  Good for up to two weeks that way if you get all the air out of the bag.  It's funny to pull a "lid" of tomato paste out of the ice box.  
 
#20 ·
In the US, federal law requires an expiration date on all packaged food products.  It can't be more than two years out. This applies even in cases where things don't go bad per se. Dried pasta for example. 

Exactly what the dates mean is a little vague anyway. Best by, Sell by, Use by, don't mean the food automatically turns bad on that date. 

And fresh anchovies, even if readily available, aren't the same for using as the processed ones. Recipes are built around the processed ones, even in Italy. I've never seen them in the salt stack as shown above. 

I'll admit another tube product I use. Lemongrass. I've never figured out minced lemon grass. It always comes out like fingernails in the finished dish. I'll bruise it up and steep it or use the tube, but I've given up trying to peel it and mince it. 
 
#21 ·
I'll admit another tube product I use. Lemongrass. I've never figured out minced lemon grass. It always comes out like fingernails in the finished dish. I'll bruise it up and steep it or use the tube, but I've given up trying to peel it and mince it.
I mince it as finely as possible and then pound it usually with sugar in a mortar and pestle. It still gives a little texture to the finished dish... so if I marinate baby back ribs in a marinade that has lemongrass, they'll have a little crunch to them, the lemongrass creating something like a bark almost. I don't mind it, in fact I enjoy it. But it's been pounded to death so that it doesn't come out like wood splinters.

I've tried frozen minced lemongrass once and found it tasteless. I'd rather just omit it. I've never tried the tube stuff though.
 
#25 ·
You don't use lemon grass in the kind of volume where a food processor would work well, even to pre-process in bulk and store for later.
I see what you mean, but other ingredients add volume like garlic, onions, whatever else is going in the recipe along with the lemongrass to constitute throwing a little chunk in.
 
#26 ·
I don't really like the texture you get as a result of putting lemongrass in a food processor. The food processor cuts, so that you're still left with little bits of lemongrass that may feel like wood splinters. 

I much prefer the mortar and pestle to tame that woody texture. 
 
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