From ancient fish sauce to modern Caesar salads, the history of the humble anchovy

There are few foods as polarizing as the anchovy. In his book A Twist in the Tail: How the Humble Anchovy Flavored Western Cuisine , horror film producer turned food historian Christopher Beckman chronicles the tiny fish's place in the European canon and champions the umami bomb's revival. Evan Kleiman: I'd love to know how you landed on the anchovy as the subject for your first book. Is it because so many people look upon it with horror? Christopher Beckman: Well, it's a really interesting question. I first noticed how controversial anchovies were and how people had this love or hate relationship with them when I was living in Venice Beach, California, working down at Roger Corman's studio. Occasionally, when I cooked dinner, I would throw in an anchovy filet. What I noticed is, if I