A few days ago I obtained a bottle of the Sapori di Mare brand colatura
di alici and made a simple dish of bucatini using it.

Colatura (literally "drippings") di alici/acciughe is anchovy sauce that
has been produced for centuries in Cetara, a village in Campania, on
Costiera Amalfitana. It has been compared to both the semi-legendary
ancient Roman garum/liquamen and to the South East Asian fish sauces,
such as the Thai nam pla and the Vietnamese nuoc mam. It is apparently
different from either in that only anchovies, not any other fish, are
used, with the anchovies beheaded and eviscerated, so that any
fermentation taking place has to do without the enzymes from the
entrails. Also, colatura is offered for sale "as is", not diluted, as
SE Asian fish sauces are said to be. In retail, colatura di alici is
generally very much more expensive than any of the SE Asian fish sauces.

A detailed official description of its production (in Italian) is he
<http://www.orsacampania.it/index.php/2010/10/13/la-colatura-di-alici-di-cetara-il-processo-produttivo/>

A video is he <http://www.amicidellealici.org/index.htm>

An LA Times description is he
<http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/28/food/fo-colatura28>

Praises have been sung of colatura by the (probably not the
coloratura-like voices) of the likes of Lidia Bastianich and Ruth
Reichl:
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703730804576313632693583002.html>
<http://www.ruthreichl.com/2010/12/gift-guide-day-24.html>

Numerous recipes generally call for just the colatura, some olive oil,
garlic, peperoncino, and some parsley to garnish, to be mixed with
cooked pasta and some cooking water. Some recipes call for cooking the
garlic in the oil with the peperoncino a bit, then discarding the garlic
and adding the colatura just to heat it a bit and then mixing with the
pasta cooked in unsalted water, with parsley spinkled on as a garnish.

I opted for the second method, adding some tomato pieces. The bucatini,
by the way, were a highly recommendable OggiPasta brand produced by
Rustichella d'Abruzzo.

So, the conclusions are as follows:

Tasted side-by-side "as is", the colatura and the two nam pla sauces I
had on hand, the Cock and the Squid brand respectively, were not *all*
that different, with the colatura having much "clearer" and somewhat
more "attractive" taste, though. The difference in concentration,
tastewise, was not apparent. Having colatura on hand, I'd say I'd
always prefer it, but perhaps not otherwise, as the price difference
is enormous.

The dish of bucatini was good, though nothing really special, I would
say. It is quick and easy to prepare. Given a choice, I think I'd
rather have a superficially similar Venetian dish of bigoli in salsa,
made with anchovy paste. I once posted a recipe:
<http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/msg/4dd2bc32ab4e982d>.

Victor

In article >,
(Victor Sack) wrote:

> A few days ago I obtained a bottle of the Sapori di Mare brand colatura
> di alici and made a simple dish of bucatini using it.
(snip)
> Praises have been sung of colatura by the (probably not the
> coloratura-like voices) of the likes of Lidia Bastianich and Ruth
> Reichl:
(snip)
> Victor

When I saw the subject line, my brain took in 'coloratura' and it was
curious. :-) Thanks for the comparison, Bubba Vic.
--
Barb,
The latest jammin'; http://web.me.com/barbschaller July 1, 2011

Victor Sack wrote:

> I opted for the second method, adding some tomato pieces. The
> bucatini, by the way, were a highly recommendable OggiPasta brand
> produced by Rustichella d'Abruzzo.

Rustichella is a very good brand. The correct name of this dish, though, is
"bucatini alla colatura" or "bucatini con la colatura". "Bucatini di
colatura" means "bucatini made out of colatura" or "bucatino from the
Colatura area" and both don't apply.
I undesrtand your preference for other pasta dressing and I'm with you about
that: colatura in expensive, smelly and not so impressive once you get to
eat it.
--
ViLco
Let the liquor do the thinking

ViLco > wrote:

> Victor Sack wrote:
>
> > I opted for the second method, adding some tomato pieces. The
> > bucatini, by the way, were a highly recommendable OggiPasta brand
> > produced by Rustichella d'Abruzzo.
>
> Rustichella is a very good brand.

Yes, but it is interesting that the brand is actually OggiPasta. I
suspect it was acquired by Rustichella d'Abruzzo a few years ago and is
still produced under its old name. Neither the OggiPasta nor the
Rustichella Web sites mention the relationship, but this site does:
<http://www.informacibo.it/pasta/oggipastarustichella.htm>.

> The correct name of this dish, though, is
> "bucatini alla colatura" or "bucatini con la colatura".

Yes, thank you. I actually started out with "alla colatura", but then
changed it for some stupid reason.

Victor