Bagna cauda

Ingredients

The sauce

• 12whole salted anchovies, filleted and rinsed, or 100 g good anchovy fillets in oil, drained
• 1whole head of garlic (about 12 cloves), peeled and thinly sliced
• 250 mlwhole milk, for softening the garlic
• 200 mlextra virgin olive oil
• 80 gunsalted butter
• 100 mlsingle cream, the Argentine addition
• 1 pinchblack pepper

To dip

• 2red peppers, roasted, peeled and cut in strips
• 400 gpotatoes, boiled in their skins and quartered
• 300 gcauliflower florets, boiled 4 min
• 2carrots, cut in batons
• 300 gpumpkin, cut in wedges and boiled 8 min
• 1 headcelery, cut in sticks
• 1loaf crusty bread, torn

Directions

1. If using salted anchovies, split them under running water, lift out the backbone and rinse away the salt, then pat dry. Over-salted anchovies will wreck the sauce.
2. Put the sliced garlic and the milk in a small pan and simmer very gently 15–20 minutes until the garlic is soft enough to crush against the side of the pan. Drain and discard the milk.
3. Warm the olive oil and butter in a heavy earthenware or cast-iron pot over the lowest possible heat. The sauce must never fry or boil.
4. Add the softened garlic and mash it into the fat with a wooden spoon until it dissolves into a pale cream, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the anchovies and keep stirring over that same low heat for 15–20 minutes. They will break down completely and the sauce will turn beige and glossy with no visible pieces.
6. Stir in the cream, which is how the dish is served in Argentina and which softens the salt and stops the sauce splitting, and grind in a little pepper. Do not add salt.
7. Boil and roast the vegetables while the sauce cooks, keeping everything warm and each element separate on a platter.
8. Set the pot over a small burner or tea light at the centre of the table so the sauce stays warm, and let everyone dip. Mop the last of it with bread, and finish, as in Piedmont, by scrambling an egg in the dregs.

Technique

• Bagna cauda came to Argentina with Piedmontese immigrants in Santa Fe and Córdoba and became winter food there; the local version adds cream, which purists in Piedmont do not.
• The heat must stay below a simmer throughout. If the oil gets hot enough to sizzle, the garlic browns and the sauce turns bitter and acrid.
• Milk-poaching the garlic is what makes a whole head edible: it strips the harshness and leaves sweetness.
• The dish is unapologetically garlicky and everyone at the table must eat it, which is exactly why it is served to family and old friends.

Substitutions

• No salted anchovies: 100 g of tinned fillets in olive oil work well, but reduce nothing else and taste before serving.
• Cream can be left out for the strict Piedmontese version; expect a sharper, saltier sauce that needs more careful heat control.
• Cardoons are the classic Piedmontese vegetable and hard to find; celery hearts and raw fennel are the usual stand-ins.

Variations

• Bagna cauda a la argentina, enriched with cream and served with pumpkin and potato.
• The Piedmontese original, oil and butter only, with raw cardoon.
• A milder version using half the garlic, poached twice in milk.

History

Brought from Piedmont by immigrants to Santa Fe and Córdoba and eaten communally on winter nights.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bagna cauda?

Bagna cauda is a main from Argentina: hot anchovy and garlic dip in cream, shared with boiled vegetables. Brought from Piedmont by immigrants to Santa Fe and Córdoba and eaten communally on winter nights.

How long does Bagna cauda take to make?

Bagna cauda takes 25 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Bagna cauda?

Yes, within limits. No salted anchovies: 100 g of tinned fillets in olive oil work well, but reduce nothing else and taste before serving. Cream can be left out for the strict Piedmontese version; expect a sharper, saltier sauce that needs more careful heat control. Cardoons are the classic Piedmontese vegetable and hard to find; celery hearts and raw fennel are the usual stand-ins.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bagna cauda?

Warm the olive oil and butter in a heavy earthenware or cast-iron pot over the lowest possible heat. The sauce must never fry or boil.