IN THE SUMMER of 1979, as young students, we took the train to Italy. It was late in the evening when we were approaching Milan station from France, and we discussed how the banks would be closed when we got there and we had no Lire, so we’d have to sleep on the station benches until the morning.
Sitting opposite us was an Italian man in his 20s who, it turned out, spoke good English. He explained that his parents were away so their flat was empty, and he could put us up for the night. When we got there he made a quick supper, in the form of anchovy spaghetti.
That’s not just the title, that’s the list of ingredients. Tip a tin of anchovies and their oil into a frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes until they dissolve. Them mix with the spaghetti. Delicious.
