Black & white anchovy crackers

I like my food coloured and black must be the colour I fancy most. I've been fantasing about black pasta, black bread, even a black cake! The only ingredient missing from my cupboard was nero di seppia (squid ink).

I went through hell trying to find some in Brussels and finally brought a large supply from Italy. It would be a pity to give up baking these tasty crackers so do your best and ask in Italian restaurants or deli shops if they can provide you with some of the rare stuff.


Black & white anchovy crackers (~ 60 pieces)
120g all purpose flour

120g diced cold butter

70g grated parmesan

10 anchovy fillets in oil

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped black olives

1 teaspoon squid ink

zest from one lemon

a little flour to dust

a little oil

Using a food processor mix the flour, butter, parmesan and finely cut anchovies until you obtain a smooth dough. Though you can do this by hand, it's important for the dough to remain cold if you want fluffy crackers in the end. If people often tell you have cold hands, don't worry about this and go ahead.

It's now time to divide the dough in two. You can leave half of it in the food processor bowl. Tip in the chopped black olives and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Mix. Now form the dough into a ball, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Take the other half of dough, place it in the food processor and mix with the squid ink, lemon zest and rest of black pepper. Cover and place in the fridge.

While you wait, preheat your oven at 200˚C.

Dust your work surface with flour and roll the dough to a 1cm thickness. Using a small cookie cutter or a small glass, cut your crackers. Form the leftovers into a ball and reuse until you finish the dough.

Place your crackers on oiled baking trays and bake for 6 minutes or until golden. Obviously the black crackers will never turn golden, so the trick is to mix the crackers and observe the right color on the white ones.

This recipe makes 0.1kilos/person of pure goodness.