“What’s important is the temperature of the butter,” Raij says. “It should be plastic and cold.” Raij was initially inspired by a snack at Roscioli delicatessen in Rome that combined salty Spanish anchovies with curls of cold vanilla butter. “I was so enchanted with it, I came home and put it on everything now,” Raij said. Her take on Roscioli’s dish, a deliberately plain cracker with a thin tube of vanilla butter and a very good-quality Spanish anchovy, has been on the menu at her NYC restaurant El Quinto Pino ever since, and she riffs on it often for parties, big and small. Adapted from Alex Raij and <a href="http://www.elquintopinonyc.com/"><strong>El Quinto Pino</strong></a> restaurant. To see the full story, head <a href="https://food52.com/blog/22725-this-4-ingredient-fancy-party-starter-is-secretly-cheaper-than-making-onion-dip"><strong>here</strong></a>.

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