[Sca-cooks] RE: -cran wine/vinegar...

[Philip & Susan Troy]

XvLoverCrimvX at aol.com wrote:
>
> Anyone know what kind of yeast you put in wine to ferment it. And if you
> ferment garum or liquamen, does it have a alcoholic tendency or do you put in
> a certain kind of yeast for that?
>
> Misha

The fermentation in fish sauce is lactobacillic, accomplished by
bacteria more akin to acidophilus than to yeasts. The fermentation is
secondary, though, to the enzymes from the fish entrails digesting the
fish guts and flesh. Ever eat a shrimp that had a sort of nasty, pasty,
creamy texture? Same principle. When shrimp are stored for too long at
the wrong temperature, the enzymes in their digestive tracts begin to
break down the flesh.

In the case of Roman and most Asian fish sauces, the presence of large
amounts of salt actually prevents much of the fermentation that would
otherwise occur.

There is no alcohol production worth speaking of, because there is no
yeast activity worth speaking of, and presumably precious little sugar, either.

Fish sauce isn't actively cultured/pitched/innoculated at all, although
it's possible that the wooden vats involved may have absorbed some
souring lactobacilli which go dormant between uses, as with certain
cheeses (most, actually), ales, etc.

I will try, eventually, to get to posting the recipes from the
Geoponica, for the "fermented" and the quick or boiled versions of
garum. I would think the fact that a quick, boiled version exists for
immediate use would preclude much in the way of souring in the
"fermented" product, assuming they are supposed to be interchangable as
far as usage goes. I mean, artificial vanilla, for example, should not
taste like chocolate or there'd be no point. It should taste, at least
to some recognizable extent, like vanilla. [And the first person who
tells me vanillin is an aromatic and not a flavoring gets a smack for
wasting everybody's time nitpicking. Kok ni ga haw!] My point is that if
an unfermented version could, in theory, pass for the fermented stuff,
the fermented stuff probably wasn't very fermented.

"Fermented", though, is a bit of a sore point for me; people simply
refuse to abandon use of the term in connection with things like fish
sauce, various preserved duck eggs, etc., because they want, deep down,
to misrepresent foods as more grotesque than they actually are.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98