04/07/2026
Few South African breakfast tables are without a jar of either Cape Gulf Brands’ Peck’s Anchovette or it’s lower-salt and therefore more kid-friendly sibling, Redro.
Inspired by the return of this iconic spread, I wanted to pay an homage of sorts to one of the first fishy meals that ignited my interest in all things seafood - a dippy egg with fish paste toast!
Already the most popular option for a Sunday morning, a dippy boiled egg was de rigueur in my family - even though everyone’s preferred toast topping differed. For my parents, it was always salted butter, while my grandad loved Oxo (or Bovril) on his. But for me, fish paste was the overall winner.
There was something about the addictive umami hit of the fish paste (always Redro for me, while my parents preferred Peck’s Anchovette) with the silkily unctuous ooze of egg yolk that had such an appeal - in both texture and taste.
