Garum

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Weights and measures



Garum is a type of thin Roman fish sauce, consisting of fermented whole fish . The flavor was essentially salty fish. Used interchangeably, garum is sometmes called Liquamen, which is specifically a brine, which garum was added to. [1]

The process of making garum also created other Roman fish sauces, including allec[2]

, a cheaper version of garum, and Salsamentum, "whole salted fishes".



Contents

Liquamen

Liquamen used specifically refers to the brine that was added to garum

Modern substitutes

While not common, most modern versions of garum can be found most often in Asian markets, names including nam pla in Thai, tuk trey in Cambodian, and nuos nam or nuos-nam in Vietnamese. In modern day Italy, there is a variation of garum made called collata that is available.

When a fish sauce substitute cannot be found, either salt or a mixture of salt and anchovy heated in olive oil, and then mashed up can suffice. Researchers warn however that anchovies, or anchovy paste alone is not an appropriate substitute.

Ancient sources

Making garum

References

  1. The translator J.D. Vehling was of the opinion that liquamen was in fact a catch all term for broth or stock, and not necessarily a synonym for garum.
  2. Also known as hallec or alex


  • Dalby, A. et al., The Classical Cookbook (J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996), ISBN 0-89236-394-0, pp. 19-22
  • Faas, Patrick. Trans. by Whiteside, S., Around the Roman Table (Palgrave Macmillian 2003) ISBN 0-312-23958-0, pp. 142-146
  • Ricotti, E., Dining As A Roman Emperor (L'Erma di Bretschneider 1995) ISBN 88-7062-901-5, pp. 11, 12
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