Do As The Romans Do: Garum! | Part I

Garum

The Romans made their own type of fish sauce: garum or liquamen. Apparently, the condiment had a very salty and 'umami' flavor, and can be used to give a kick to whatever needs it. It was produced by fermenting raw fish in the presence of lots of salt.

I thought it would be a fun experiment to try and make it myself, so I make an attempt. I did some online exploring, looking for the simplest recipe and method. And this is what I did...

Ingredients

• 1 kg of fresh sardines
• 250 g of salt
• a cleaned milk jug

Method

1. Mix the sardines with the salt
2. Toss them in the milk jug
3. Set aside at room temperature

Now what?

Now I wait. I can't tell you yet what it tastes like, or whether it worked out at all - because it takes a couple of months to ferment first. I will post updates coming weeks to let you how the concoction behaves. And hopefully, about how to process it next and how it combines with a perfectly grilled ribeye (for example 😁).

More info

If you want to know more about garum history or its variants, you can start with Garum on wikipedia. Also, remember that fermenting food means favoring growth of specific micro organisms under specific conditions (e.g. high salt). If done wrong, your food may become unsafe to eat. So please take your own responsibility if you try something similar.

Feel free to comment too, if you know better recipes or methods.