[Sca-cooks] Could this actually be Garum?
Terry Decker
t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net
Tue Sep 9 20:53:13 PDT 2008
"...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
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