SC - Re: Apicius site, some thoughts

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Lilinah biti-Anat wrote:
> 
> Aislinn C. C. wrote:
> >I have no idea if it is the same plant used by the Romans. Tannahill
> >gives an intriguing process for making liquamen in her book. Would
> >modern oyster sauce make a good substitute? Adamantius?
> 
> I've never tasted actual Roman style liquamen, but have had various
> fish sauces from around 4 different Southeast Asian countries.

Definitely not modern oyster sauce. As it happens, I just happened to
sample (one of the few things I was able to sample) actual
garum/liquamen from Pliny's Historia Naturalis, and it was a light amber
color, a bit like filtered apple juice, but with a more substantial
mouth feel/body, and a definite anchovy taste. Yum! I ate mackerel guts!
And liked it! The only harshness to it was in the saltiness, which is
pretty much inevitable. If this was done right, it would seem to suggest
that the fish is preserved from rotting by the salt, and broken down
entirely by enzymatic action, unlike the processes that produce some of
the Southeast Asian fish sauces, at least some of which involve lactic
fermentation, as do things like sauerkraut.
> 
> I recommend Thai fish sauce (nam pla). Vietnamese fish sauce is a
> decent second. I REALLY didn't like the taste of Philippino fish
> sauce, nor of Chinese fish sauce. Personal taste.

There are decent Philipino sauces, you need to watch for the ones that
contain anchovies and salt, and avoid ones with vinegar, these are
basically sauces that are artificially flavored to resemble the real
thing. 
> 
> But i should think, knowing how they and liquamen are made, at least
> from reading books, that any of them would be closer to liquamen than
> oyster sauce, since it isn't made from fish, and has all sorts of
> other additives, whereas the Southeast Asian fish sauces are just
> little fish and salt, like liquamen.

Yep. Oyster sauce is oyster essence (reduced stock made from dried
oysters), sugar, cornstarch, sometimes some caramel coloring, sometimes
soy sauce. The best oyster sauces are the ones for which oysters or
oyster essence are the first ingredient listed.

Sorry for the delay, I seem to have missed the original query.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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