Anchovies are the most hated pizza topping in America: 42% say they hate them outright, double the figure for any other topping YouGov tested. And yet 30% love or like them, which is a larger minority than the reputation suggests. Part of the disagreement is that most people have never eaten the fish, only one particular preparation of it. The traditional method is to gut the fish and salt them in brine, let them cure, then pack them in oil or salt, and that process is what produces the characteristic strong flavour associated with anchovies. It is not an inherent property of the animal. Fresh anchovies, known in Italy as alici, have a much milder flavour, and anchovies pickled in vinegar, like Spanish boquerones en vinagre, are milder again and keep their white flesh rather than going deep grey. So the tin on the pizza is the most aggressive version of the fish that exists, chosen because it survives storage. The split is mostly between people who have met the cured version and people who have met any of the others.