Seafood

As a country surrounded by water, it’s no surprise that Italy loves its seafood. From the high-quality canned tonno (tuna) needed to make Piedmontese vitello tonnato to fresh-from-the-water favorites like fritto misto on the Amalfi coast, nearly every region of Italy has at least one beloved seafood dish.

Of course, there’s no more famously Italian fish than the anchovy. The pungent little fish were basically unknown in the U.S. other than as a polarizing pizza topping, but in Italy, they’re an essential building block of flavor (And they’re delicious on pizza, too!) Affordable and full of umami, just a little bit of anchovy is all that’s needed to bring on a punch of big flavor. That economy is important in a country where, historically, many people survived on just a few basic necessities dressed up in ingenious ways. Cucina povera (“poor cooking”) is responsible for many of our most beloved Italian dishes, from biscotti to spaghetti aglio e olio. That’s why a no-waste philosophy comes naturally to Italian cooks even today.

Anchovies have been an Italian staple since the Roman empire, when a sauce made from the salted fish called garum (similar to Southeast Asian fish sauce) was a prized flavoring agent. Today, its modern cousin colatura di alici is still beloved around the coastal town of Cetara, where it is made. Colatura is a brilliant secret ingredient that adds a big punch of briny, rich flavor, just as sautéeing a few anchovy filets with garlic as a base for your tomato sauce lends a mysterious bass note that makes the whole dish sing.

Luckily for us, these most special Italian seafood delicacies can be preserved and shipped straight to your door without losing any of that authentic flavor. From the waters of the Mediterranean to your table, we’ve hand-picked the best Italian seafood products for you.