Umami packed Gilda recipe

It is said that one day a regular at a bar picked up a toothpick and skewered three appetisers together, creating this unique snack packed full of umami.

Gildas. Picture: Nikki To

There are few snacks simpler than a gilda, which is based on three ingredients; a pepper, an olive and an anchovy, which, when combined, create something truly magical.

Our story starts in the 1946 at the Casa Vallés bar in San Sebastian where they would serve a selection of small plates (anchovies, olives, peppers) to accompany drinks. It is said that one day a regular picked up a toothpick and skewered the three appetisers together, thus creating this unique pintxo (a word derived from the Spanish verb “pinchar” meaning to stick or stab).

Gildas. Picture: Nikki To

My favourite anchovies come from Cantabria, as they are intensely meaty and full of umami. Piparras (or guindillas) are semi-sweet Basque peppers that are tangy with just a touch of heat, while a briny green olive adds a rich saltiness with a hint of lemon.

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RECIPE: Gildas

Ingredients

12 green pitted olives

12 anchovies

12 piparras or guindillas (pickled Spanish peppers available in jars in good grocers or online)

½ preserved lemon, peel cut into approximately 1cm pieces

Method 

1. There is no right or wrong way to skewer these ingredients together, so long as they are secure; just have some fun with it.
2. Taking a small cocktail skewer, I like to weave the anchovy around the other ingredients so I tend to thread in this order: one end of an anchovy fillet, one olive, followed by the mid-section of the anchovy fillet wrapped around the olive, followed by one piece of preserved lemon, one part of the guindilla pepper followed by the other end of the anchovy fillet finished with the other end of the guindilla pepper.
3. Makes 12 gildas