Either loved or hated by South Africans, Redro and Pecks Anchovette (fish paste) stopped appearing on South African stores shelves in January 2022. Pioneer Foods, the local distributor of Pecks and manufacturer of the South African equivalent Redro announced that it had discontinued its lines of fish paste.
For those who are missing their fix of fish paste all is not lost. This homemade fish paste recipe is close tasting to original recipe. Some might say it’s actually better. A very simple recipe and easy and quick to make ensuring that you will always have a fresh supply of a taste from your childhood growing up in South Africa.
Ingredients for homemade fish paste
- 1 50g tin anchovies in olive oil
- 2 125g tins of sardines in oil (preferably olive oil) or brine
- 1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
Alternatives
- an alternative to the tomato paste is to use sardines in tomato sauce or any other sauce such as mustard or a hot sauce, so play around with the flavours until you find something that suits your taste
Method
- Drain sardines
- Place sardines, anchovies including half of the oil, and tomato paste in a mini chopper or food processor and blend
- Every 20 seconds check for any unblended bits and push down with a spoon. Blend again until smooth
- Serve your homemade fish paste on toast with butter
- If you have any left to store then store in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last a good week and a half.
