One of the things people often ask me is what foods I miss from home. I have to say that the list has shrunk over the years. At first, we smuggled biltong furtively through Heathrow customs and I clearly remember my mom bringing me boxes of Rooibos when she visited me. And of course, there was the constant traffic in Aromat, my poison of choice 
Over the years, slowly but surely, more and more South African stuff has become available over here, either in specialist shops or (in the case of Nando’s sauces, Mrs Ball’s Chutney, Rooibos and Aromat) in British supermarkets. But despite the wide availability of South African goods, there are still a few that I miss and would willingly sacrifice my precious 20kg luggage allowance for. One of these is Peck’s Anchovette.
I challenge you to find any restaurant serving breakfast in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s that did not feature anchovy toast on its menu. It is one of those things that is so ubiquitous that you can’t imagine any other country lives without it, until you land in London and a few months down the line you realise you haven’t seen anchovy toast on the menu for a while. I found this really strange, because in food halls like Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, you can buy stuff called “Gentleman’s Relish” – which is largely made up of anchovy paste. But no sign of Peck’s Anchovette. As it turns out, this is because it does not comply with some arcane EU regulation and the company did not think the size of the UK or European market justified the expense of complying with said regulation. However these guysindicated towards the end of last year that they had some in stock, so maybe it’s been allowed in? All info welcome!
The Peck’s brand was started in London in 1891 by one Harry Peck who produced a variety of processed meat products, including meat and fish pastes. After his death, production was continued by Harry Peck & Co. Ltd and the brand was manufactured in South Africa for the first time in 1962 (which is, I swear, when my father bought his first jar!). The brand and rights to the original recipe later passed to Southern Sea Fishing and now vest in Premier Fishing.
So – what’s in the jar? I have sometimes seen Anchovette described as the South African equivalent of British Marmite: you either love it or you hate it. It’s a paste of anchovies, mackerel and pilchards with the saltiness of tinned anchovies and the unrelenting fishiness of a product whose label boasts that it contains 91% fish! It’s best spread on hot buttered wholewheat toast and I usually top this with thinly sliced cucumber to take the edge off the saltiness – heavenly!
Love it or hate it, Anchovette will be a loved or loathed part of your childhood memories if you grew up in South Africa.
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May 14th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Hate the stuff; doubly so after accidentally opening a 9 month old jar someone left in the office fridge…
May 14th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
9 month old Anchovette…. shudder!!! That would certainly be enough to cure me! But until then, I fall squarely in the “love it” camp…
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 am
I love pecks anchovette and I live in Australia where they started making it during the war years. australia branched off fromthe parent company and retained the rights over anchovette. so SA has Australia to thak fror the introduction to pecks anchovette LOL
For the last 12 months I have almost lived on it with dry bikkies(crackers) as one of my few sources of food due top new false teeth not fitting and a few other issues LOL
what I am actually trying to find on the net is nutritional info on anchovette
May 5th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Hi Ann
Thanks for your comment
I *adore* Anchovette and as luck would have it, I finished the last of my stash this morning. The nutritional ifo on the label is as follows:
Ingredients: pilchards, Cape herring, mackerel, anchovies, salt, cornflour, sugar, spices, soya protein, Colouring: E172, ascorbic acid
Per 100g:
Energy – 527Kj
Protein – 15.6g
Carbohydrate – 1.4g
Total fat – 6.5g (consists of saturated fat 2.6g, trans fatty acids <0.1g, polyunsaturated fats 2.4g, Omega-3 fatty acids 1900mg, monounsaturated fats 1.9g)
Cholesterol – 54.3mg
Total dietary fibre – 2g
Sodium – 1166mg
Iron – 9mg
Hope that answers your question!
October 29th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi – also miss Pecks – found this great site selling it online though – (the stores in London are often out of stock
they also seem to do all SA stuff http://www.expatshop.co.za-and the things are SO cheap now considering the strong ₤ to R!
April 16th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I am suffering a serious withdrawal from Peck’s, and am literally ready to shoot my granny for a bottle! Cannot find it in the UK and am now thinking of going into production myself.
Any fingers pointing me in the direction of a UK supply would be most handy! Please?
July 13th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Hello there,
I’m also a South African expat living in the UK. I don’t miss SA food all that much. However, I do have a hankering for Maltabella from time to time – do you remember it?
Anyway the reason I’m posting is I recently tried this Jamie Oliver recipe for Anchovy Butter which reminded me of Pecks Anchovette. But of course, being a Jamie Oliver creation, it’s much more delicious! I’ll post it here for you. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I have:
250g butter
3 tbs capers
3 tbs Dijon Mustard
50g Anchovies
Whizz together in a food processor. Or if you prefer a chunkier texture, chop all ingredients finely and mix well together. Shape into a sausage shape and cut into rounds as you need them.
Lovely on toast, hot new potatoes or steamed greens.
Keeps for two weeks.