Alici di Menaica

At Marina di Pisciotta, a coastal hamlet of the municipality of Pisciotta in the province of Salerno, a small fleet of gozzi (traditional wooden fishing boats) sets out to sea at night, when the water lies still and the sky is clear. The fishermen carry handmade wide-mesh nets, called menaiche, whose structure works as a selector by shape and size: small fish pass through unharmed, while the adult anchovies become caught in a way that lets them bleed out directly in the seawater. Historical sources trace the gesture back to classical antiquity, and along this stretch of the Cilento coast it has survived almost unchanged.

Processing begins on board, without waiting for the return to port. The anchovies are gutted and salted immediately, with sea salt, before the cold of the night gives way to dawn. This immediate passage between catch and first salting is one of the elements that sets the product apart from any industrial process: the fish is not subjected to prolonged stress, is not refrigerated or transported live, and its flesh keeps a texture and aroma that the later maturing transforms without altering.

Curing takes place in terracotta amphorae, where the anchovies rest for months under salt. The result is a pinkish anchovy, tending toward white, with an aroma that local producers describe as delicate compared to conventional production, while still keeping a pronounced depth of flavor. The terracotta, a porous and breathable material, plays an active part in the process: it is not a neutral container but an ingredient in the recipe.

Slow Food has recognized menaica fishing as a Presidio, including it in its system for safeguarding products at risk of disappearing. The recognition reflects a concrete reality: few fishermen still practice this method at Marina di Pisciotta, and the knowledge is passed down within a family and community context that the modernization of the fishing industry has gradually eroded elsewhere. The menaica net itself requires specific craftsmanship and a knowledge of the local sea that cannot be improvised.

What remains, beyond the finished product, is the coherence of a system: the net chooses the fish, the sea prepares it, the salt preserves it, the terracotta matures it. No step can be separated from the others, and none can be replaced without changing the nature of the whole. In this sense, alici di menaica are not simply a typical product of Campania, but the living record of a relationship between a community and its stretch of sea.