Anchovies and Grandma

While my grandmother was visiting me in Santa Fe, I took her to one of my favorite lunch spots. Zia Diner on Guadalupe Street in Santa Fe was not only convenient to where I received my mail and many samples while I was a sales rep, but was an inexpensive break from the more pricey places we frequented. Grandma could have her glass of wine and I could introduce her to the wonderful meatloaf they serve there.

I remember ordering a Caesar salad to start with and Grandma thought that sounded delicious. The salad was simple and certainly not the best Caesar I have ever had, but hit the spot. I think the dressing may not be homemade... it seems like a lot of places are using a bottled dressing these days. Grandma asked if I knew how to make the dressing. She, of course, new all of the ingredients. Probably from being in the restaurant business for all of her life and also cooking Italian favorites at home. She knew of the anchovies, which I think many people tend to not know or ignore.

This led to a conversation about anchovies. She mentioned to me that it was one of her favorite things, but people often hate them so she excludes them from anything she is cooking. She does still buy them and she said she could even eat them straight from the tin. I told her I, too love anchovies and we were excited that we had this in common. When we went home that night, we stopped at the grocery first. Grandma remembered the conversation we had at the diner earlier that day and snuck some anchovies into my shopping cart.

That night she made me homemade pizza with anchovies. She did not put other toppings on the pizza like the traditional pepperoni or mushroom, but just the mozzarella cheese and anchovies. We ate the pizza together, savoring each salty bite of anchovy. We felt like best friends (as I often feel around my Grandma). It was as if we were the only two people left on earth that could not only stand an anchovy, but loved them so much we didn't need any other toppings.