The proverb [is used] in reference to those who have a quick end; inasmuch as it happens that an anchovy cooks very quickly.[1]
It is said in the singular in Aristophanes in Broilers, a)fu/h;[2] but always [elsewhere] in the plural, ta\s a)fu/as.[3]
Also found is aphros ["cloud fish"] [so called] because of its whiteness.
It is also called engraulis ["grayling"] by many people.
Also [sc. attested is the phrase] a)fu/wn timh/ ["anchovies' honour"], [meaning] olive oil; since they will go well in it.[4]
Also [sc. attested are "Phalerian anchovies", [meaning] the big ones. Phalereus [is] a harbour of Attica.[5]
But it is said in the plural, very rarely [in the singular] a)fu/h.
Aristophanes [writes]: "he used to get everything he wished through [calling you] gleaming, having attached [to you] anchovies' honour."[6]
There are more kinds:[7] one is called the aphritis,[8] which is not born from procreation, but from the foam [aphros] floating at the surface of the sea. Another is called the kobitis ["little gudgeon"],[9] which is born from small and lowly gudgeons which are washed up on the sand; from these [there are] others, which are called e)gkrasi/xoloi. And another, which is a type of sprat, and another from the anchovy,[10] and another from small fish. The aphritis is the principal one.
"Apicius the gourmet[11] presented Nicomedes, the king of the Bithynians who was far from the sea and had his heart set upon anchovies, [with a dish] pretending it was a little fish like anchovies. But this was the preparation. He took a delicate turnip and cut this into long and slender [pieces], mimicking the appearance of the anchovy, and he boiled them in oil and poured on salt, sprinkled on poppy seeds, and satisfied his longing."[12]