[Sca-cooks] [Sca-Cooks] To 10 pantry items

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 5, 2007, at 11:30 AM, Ian Kusz wrote:

> huh....and no one included that roman fish sauce....:))))
> (garum?  liquamen? whatever.)
>
> Of course, everyone I've heard mention it has said it's  
> concentrated evil,
> but, well.......

It's really no big deal. It's made from fish. It tastes like fish. It  
is _not_ rotten. It's got a lot of salt in it. Use it in place of  
salt in dishes for which a fishy flavor is a reasonable expectation.

The only time I've ever heard a major complaint (and I share this  
one) from anyone who has actually seen, smelled, tasted and/or worked  
with the stuff (as opposed to the ill-informed who just knee-jerk  
repeat the xenophobe mantra, "rotten fish" over and over again  
without ever coming within a mile of it), is that when you add it to  
a hot pot or pan in any quantity, the aroma can be pretty  
overpowering for a few minutes. By the time the dish is done, it will  
have dissipated to a great extent. Oh, and it's pretty stinky to  
actually make it, but since you can buy it in markets catering to any  
of several ethnicities at very reasonable prices, that doesn't have  
to be an issue.

Adamantius