Garum

Garum is a fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment[1] in the cuisines of Phoenicia,[2] ancient Greece, Rome,[3] Carthage and later Byzantium.

[9] Pliny the Elder and Isidore of Seville derive the Latin word garum from the Greek γάρος (gáros),[10] a food named by Aristophanes, Sophocles, and Aeschylus.

After the liquid was ladled off the top of the mixture, the remains of the fish, called allec, were used by the poorest classes to flavor their staple porridge or farinata.

For example, Apicius (8.6.2–3) gives a recipe for lamb stew, calling for the meat to be cooked with onion and coriander, pepper, lovage, cumin, liquamen, oil, and wine, then thickened with flour.

[20] The available evidence suggests that the sauce was typically made by crushing the innards of (fatty) pelagic fishes, particularly anchovies, but also sprats, sardines, mackerel, or tuna, and then fermenting them in brine.

[26] The ruins of a garum factory remain at the Baetian site of Baelo Claudia (in present-day Tarifa) and Carteia (San Roque).

The garum of Lusitania (in present-day Portugal) was also highly prized in Rome, and was shipped directly from the harbour of Lacobriga (Lagos).

[35] When mixed with oenogarum (a popular wine-based Byzantine sauce), vinegar, black pepper, or oil, garum enhanced the flavor of a wide variety of dishes, including boiled veal and steamed mussels, even pear-and-honey soufflé.

[37] Garum had a social dimension that might be compared to that of garlic in some modern Western societies, or to the adoption of fish sauce in Vietnamese cuisine (called nước mắm there).

It was thought to be one of the best cures for many ailments, including dog bites, dysentery, and ulcers, and to ease chronic diarrhea and treat constipation.

[40] In Cádiz, Spain, in 2017, one chef used its flavors for a fish salad recipe, after Spanish archaeologists found evidence of garum in amphorae recovered in the ruins of Pompeii, dating to 79 AD.