Umami — the so-called “fifth taste” — has become one of the most popular buzzwords in the culinary world and for good reason. The deep savory flavor is the foundation of every dish it appears in; sometimes subtle sometimes strong it has a way of enhancing all the other flavors in the dish. Certain ingredients stand out for their umami flavor most notably fish sauce. Animal proteins are rich in glutamate the amino acid responsible for umami and the basis of MSG. In fish sauce the animal protein is further fermented which intensifies the savory flavor. In modern cooking fish sauce is often associated with Asian cuisines. Thousands of years ago it was also wildly popular in ancient Rome.
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The Secret of Garum: The Spicy Fish Sauce of Ancient Rome #shorts
The Roman version of fish sauce was called “garum” and it seems they put it on almost every dish imaginable. It was primarily used as a table condiment but could also serve as a base for other condiments and dressings and was even used as a folk medicine. Although historians have long known about garum from ancient documents the exact nature of its preparation and flavor seemed to have been lost to history until recently. New archaeological discoveries have uncovered important details of garum’s history and it is finally making a comeback on our tables.
The ancient Romans did not invent garum themselves. They were preceded in the eastern Mediterranean by the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians. The name "garum" is actually derived from "garos" the original Greek word for the type of fish used to make it. Modern historians are not certain what fish garos referred to as a sauce but theoretically it could be made from any type of fish. In Roman times it was most commonly made from scomber which is now commonly known as Atlantic chub mackerel.
Garum seems to have been extremely popular among the ancient Romans. It is mentioned in the works of famous Roman writers such as Martial Manilius and Pliny the Elder. The oldest known cookbook "De Re Coquinaria" calls for garum as an ingredient in 350 different recipes. Many of these texts also refer to a fish sauce called "liquamen" which seems to be different from garum in the earliest writings; however later texts seem to use liquamen and garum interchangeably.
