Garum always seemed equivalent to soy sauce or fish sauce from SEA. If you were a time travelling Roman, it would be entirely accurate to call soy sauce “pickled mold loaf juice”.
Explanation: Not just a military food! Roman garum was fish sauce left to ferment, and was a condiment they put on everything. Bread, meat, other fish, salad, porridge, wine, fruit, everything. It was considered such an essential foodstuff that, like bread and wine, it was provided to slaves. There were varieties that were cheap as could be, like wine, and like wine, there were varieties that would cost a year’s wages for a common laborer just to get a single container of.
Since it wasn’t, y’know, boiled or anything, just left to ferment, it was a great way to get fish parasites. In fact, it’s widely suspected to be a contributor to the spread of Mediterranean fish parasites to the Atlantic during the Roman era. Y i k e s
It sounds gross af, tbqh. Even the Romans acknowledged that the breath of someone who had just eaten garum was revolting, though, with one Roman love poet (sarcastically?) complimenting a man for continuing to pursue a woman after she had eaten six helpings of garum. But it must have had something going for it to be so widely popular - de gustibus non disputandum est!
More relevantly to military rations, Roman soldiers were extremely well-fed. It’s been noted by some classicists that for all the innumerable complaints we have from ordinary Roman legionaries about their conditions - hard labor, pay, monetary deductions, not enough wine - food, perhaps uniquely amongst professional armies, does not pop up as an issue! Roman legionaries were issued a regular ration of grain (to be made into bread), meat, beans and lentils, cheese, salt, wine, vinegar, and olive oil; and probably a pretty substantial amount of it at that.
A modern equivalent of this still exists in Italy, it’s called colatura di alici. It’s a great ingredient to have in the kitchen if you can get your hands on it. Adds an extra umami flavour and I use it frequently in soups, stews, sauces, fish/crab cakes, etc - basically anywhere you’d use Worcestershire sauce but way better. It’s fairly pungent so a little goes a long way.
My friend swears by Thai fish sauce, and he says the same thing - you only want a dab of it, but it’s fantastic.
… I’ve taken his word on it thus far, lmao
Oh yeah I’m a big fan of thai/vietnamese fish sauce in South East Asian dishes, as well as its even smellier cousin, fermented shrimp paste. I find the flavour profile of colatura to be more neutral and less vinegary though, and there’s no sweetness to it unlike Worcestershire sauce. It’s definitely very fishy smelling though. If that’s a turn off for you, you’ll also just have to take my word on its deliciousness.
It sounds gross af, tbqh.
I dunno, I kinda like anchovies, so I sorta get it. I had a roommate who ate fermented tofu (or something like that?) so I can imagine fermented anchovies.
I don’t even like regular fish, so this is a double-whammy for me, lmao
Fermented anchovies is exactly what Worcestershire sauce is.
No way! That totally makes sense, I put US Lea & Perrins on peas, or sometimes on cheesy macaroni.
According to Max Miller, it’s an acquired taste
In ancient Rome, he would have gotten in trouble for making that garum, because while they loved the stuff, the Romans hated the smell of it being made so much that making garum in residential areas (or even within city limits) was prohibited.
And a dessert made with it, if anyone’s curious lol
I’d love some Worcestershire, thanks!
I believe the best guesses place it somewhere between Worcestershire and Vietnamese fish sauce, but I guyess it was so ubiquitous it would have varied widely.
Someone else just linked the Tasting History episode where he actually makes Garum following the Roman method. It seems it’s a fair shade different in flavor profile than modern fish sauce.
What fascinates me is that it’s less salty in taste.
