“It’s a nice job. It requires a lot of concentration. We are in charge of making anchovies look like they are in a can.” This is how María Ángeles Bellanco, a 55-year-old native of Bilbao, sums up her work. She has been dedicating herself to the job of sobadora for more than two decades, which is carried out by those women with fine hands, clad in gloves, who clean thorns and beards and shape this delicate delicacy. For almost four years she has worked at Grupo Consorcio, one of the largest anchovy producers in the world, based in Santoña (Cantabria). “I have worked in front of the public, and what I like is to be in front of an anchovy.” She works from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for 1,000 euros net per month. In front of her is Mar Vilasanta, born in Ramales de la Victoria (Cantabria) 59 years ago, 24 of them at the firm. “They taught me how to handle them and I wasn’t bad at it. You have to be very patient and take good care of your hands, it is our main tool.” She defends a profession that was born out of necessity, “the men went to the sea and the women to the canneries,” and the importance of making it visible, especially so that there is generational change. They claim the work that is inside a can. “It is not valued because it is unknown how laborious it is. We do not calculate the time we spend with each anchovy because they are all different,” she says, while she handles over and over again a beautiful piece that will go into a premium can. Everything is done by hand, there can be no shortcuts. The perfect anchovy? Exists. “It has to be from the Cantabrian Sea, from the year, with a smooth, pinkish back,” says Vilasanta. The sea always as a sign of identity.
In the room, 12 kneaders work in different shifts, there are also 42 women in charge of filleting the pieces. All of the anchovies are used. Those that break end up in small cans, and the rest go into a barrel for flour and animal feed. They can them according to orders. The jewels come from the Cantabrian Sea. Although the company also packages anchovies from other origins, such as Argentina, Peru or other areas of the Mediterranean. A good part of this merchandise is destined to make white label products for other companies. 59% is exported to 48 countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, the United States or Thailand. “We are the world leader in anchovies,” says Valeria Piaggio, vice president of the Consorcio Group, which employs more than a thousand people, of whom a hundred are dedicated to anchovies, and whose turnover in 2022 was 77.7 million euros.
Spring and the beginning of summer, from March to June, is one of the most anticipated moments in the Cantabrian fish markets, especially in the Basque Country and Cantabria, where the arrival of anchovies to the northern coasts of Spain is celebrated. . This is when this fish reaches its maximum splendor in flavor and freshness. The bocarte enters the Cantabrian Sea through Gipuzkoa and leaves through Galicia, so the returned anchovy, which in July and August, comes from this autonomous community. It is being an irregular campaign. “Everything that arrives at the port is small bits, and we need big pieces. It is a fish that moves by currents and climate change is noticeable,” warns Aldo Brambilla, responsible for purchasing anchovies for the Consorcio group.
At mid-morning, the boats – there are 160 fishing in these waters – arrive at the port of Santoña. Every time the siren sounds, the arrival of new merchandise is announced. Maximum expectation in the market, buyers and curious people are checking out the boxes full of bright silver anchovies, sharing space with some chicharrón and some marlin. The color attracts, but the important thing is the size, the weight: the number of fish that fit in a kilo. Between 40 and 60 pieces are destined mainly for fresh consumption. “We need larger sizes, 30 units per kilo, because when we put it in salt there is a loss of the product,” explains Brambilla, who also speaks about the price. “A kilo of a weight of 30 units can be between four and six euros, while last year you bought it for half that.” The laborious and patient process of preparation, from the step from anchovy to anchovy, is what results in the final price of the can. Not all are the same. The origin makes the difference: Peruvian, for example, is the one sold at a lower price, and is the one recommended for use in pizzas or sauces.
The Consorcio Group has two work centers, one in Santoña and the other in Colindres, the first center to receive the purchase. When the fresh product arrives, it is placed in ice, water and salt. The next step is to behead and clean each mouth of the viscera. One by one. There is no time to lose. Everything is done at a good pace. Once cleaned, they are placed in the shape of a crown, perfectly ordered and covered in layers with salt, until they reach the top of the barrels, whose contents will be pressed so that the fish dehydrates, expels all the water and soaks in salt. “In eight hours you can clean about 12,000 kilos, the amount that a boat can catch,” details Fernando Prada, salting technician at the firm.
After this process, the frenzy—during the coastal season they fill about 1,500 barrels—subsides. Because for the miracle to occur, the fish must rest for six months or a year. The brine comes from the Rosio salt flats, in Villarcayo (Burgos). “Thanks to the temperature, no less than five degrees and no more than 18 degrees, and the humidity, maturation and the extraction of its flavor are achieved.” The next step is to move the barrels to Santoña, where the sobadoras and those in charge of filleting and mincing the anchovy come into action before it rests in the can. This product combines, on the one hand, the speed in the initial treatment of the fish, the rest in the intermediate phase and the delicacy of the last moment. “This phase is very nice, here it is washed, the first time at 36 degrees, the rub is done patiently and it is washed again cold,” explains Natalia Bolado, head of the aforementioned plant.
In Santoña they learned the technique of salting, alongside the masters salatoris Italians, who came to this corner of Cantabria at the end of the 19th century in search of new opportunities at sea. They ended up falling in love with the Cantabrian anchovy, and in addition to this method of conservation, they also began filleting the fish, preserving it in fat and later in olive oil. For all these reasons, this fishing village has become the Spanish mecca of anchovies.
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