Anchovies marinated in lemon: the recipe.
One of the typical dishes of Liguria are anchovies with lemon.

I collected many lemons that the plant in my garden, as usual, abundantly gave me and I saw in my trusted fishmonger some beautiful local anchovies, not very big, but already of an acceptable size and so I prepared the first lemon anchovies of the season.

I want to describe the preparation that I learned many years ago from an almost illiterate lady. A great woman who was a dishwasher to support the whole family and who had a great talent for cooking.

First of all, choose the anchovies which must be very fresh and of a fairly large size.

Then, calmly, after having removed the head from the fish and, with it, the innards or most of them, put the anchovies in a container with a draft of running water and leave them under this draft for at least twelve hours.
Once this operation has been done, you will see that the anchovies will have become white, firm and will have opened slightly to allow you to remove the bones without breaking the meat, leaving the tail attached to the fish.
At this point, to follow current food safety rules, place the fish neatly in a container that you will leave in the freezer for at least 48 hours to permanently eliminate any parasites that they may contain.
Once the required time has passed, I recommend bringing the fish back to a temperature that allows it to be handled by leaving it in the normal refrigerator to avoid thermal shock damaging the delicacy of the meat and then proceed with the preparation. This is also a very delicate operation that must be done with care and precision.

First of all, squeeze a good quantity of lemons and keep a container of fine salt handy and a low container wide enough to contain the anchovies placed in several overlapping layers. Lightly sprinkle the bottom of the container with fine salt and place a layer of anchovies on top. Once this is done, sprinkle with a little more salt and then cover with lemon juice. At this point make another layer of anchovies that you will place, always with great care, one on top of the other, salting again lightly and covering again with lemon... and continue this operation until you have used up all the fish and make sure that the lemon juice covers it completely. Then put the covered container in the refrigerator and leave it there for 24 hours. After 24 hours, take the container and, always very carefully so as not to move the fish, drain the lemon completely and replace it with olive oil.
Sprinkle a little fine oregano on top.
The anchovies are ready.

N.B. I know, this preparation is long and cumbersome and can be shortened a lot; you can use vinegar instead of lemon or do other manipulations but the recipe that I proposed to you is certainly the best that I have ever seen even if it is the longest, most difficult and expensive…

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