[Sca-cooks] Could this actually be Garum?

[Terry Decker]

"...all salted fish were included under the word salsamenta.

Manufacturers did not waste any part of the fish, but used everything, such 
as the tail, stomach, neck or head.  The innards, gills, and any other parts 
normally considered refuse also had a use; these were made into fish sauce. 
The Romans produced four different sauces:  garum, liquamen, allec and 
muria.  Garum was the primary product, while allec (Pl 1b), the sediment 
created in making garum, was of secondary importance.  The Roman penchant 
for using the terms liquamen and muria imprecisely renders illusive a firm 
understanding of these products.  The former term, which probably designated 
a sauce distinct from garum, acquired before the fith century A.D. almost 
generic value for any fish sauce, while the latter was a word sometimes used 
to mean garum and at other times to signify the liquid used in making garum 
or in packing salted fish products in vessels for transport."

Curtis, Robert I., Garum and Salsamenta, production and commerce in materia 
medica; E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 1991, pg. 7.

"The appearance of ancient sauces is unknown, although the carmelized 
residue of what was probably garum has been found in a Roman saltery at 
Plomarc'h in Western Gaul and the bones of small fish found in the dolia in 
Pompeii may be the dessicative remains of allec (PL 1b).  From this and from 
numerous epigraphical and literary references one can postulate that ancient 
garum was a clear liquid; allec, the residue, was no doubt a mushy 
paste-like substance containing fish bones and other undissolved fish 
material.  Exactly what liquamen was remains unclear.  When viewed as a 
product distinct from garum, its appearance most likely resembled that of 
garum, but as a liquid it was probably weaker in salinity and color.  Muria, 
the solution resulting from salting fish, was probably similar to that of 
liquamen."

Curtis, Robert I., Garum and Salsamenta, production and commerce in materia 
medica; E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands, 1991, pg. 14.

>From these comments, I would say that the product they are calling garum, 
made from brining anchovies is definitely muria and possibly liquamen, but 
probably not true Roman garum.

Bear




>I found this while browsing:
>
> http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=P-COL
>
> Thoughts?
>
> --
> Serena da Riva