[Sca-cooks] Garum was To 10 pantry items

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 5, 2007, at 8:55 PM, Terry Decker wrote:

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ian Kusz" <sprucebranch at gmail.com>
>
>
>> 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.......
>
> And how do they know it's concentrated evil?  I don't think I've  
> ever met
> anyone who has made garum, much less eaten it.  Modern fish sauces,  
> yes.
> Garum no.

I recall being specifically sought out by a friend of mine who had a  
friend who had made the quick-boiled "fake" liquamen, and found it so  
entirely inoffensive in nature that he then went and did the actual  
fish-entrails (or maybe it was whole, small fish) in a vat in the  
August sun, to see of there was any serious difference between the two.

Interestingly enough, there wasn't. Both tasted like an ever-so- 
slightly oregano-flavored Filipino patis: a clear (light amber),  
thin, strong, very salty fish-broth with a slight oily sheen to its  
surface.

I know there are some Asian fish sauces that are lacto-fermented, and  
some that are made with anchovies and vinegar, but this didn't  
resemble them very much.

Adamantius