Allec is a fish sauce that the Romans made. It was the paste, or sediment, that was left at the bottom of the container or barrel that other fish sauces such as garum, liquamen or muria were made in. It would probably have had some small, undissolved fish bones in it, and indeed amphorae (jugs)…
Fish Sauces
Fish
Fish are aquatic animals that, with very rare exceptions, live their entire lives in the water. They can live in fresh or salt water. As far as the kitchen is concerned, there are two main types of fish: white fish, or blue fish.
Fish Sauces
A Fish Sauce is generally defined as a sauce made with fish as a main ingredient in the sauce, rather than as a sauce to be served with fish. Though versions have been made since Ancient Greece, most people now think of Fish Sauce as a fermented sauce made from fish throughout Asia, with regional…
Garum
Garum was a fermented fish sauce in classical times. It used fresh whole mackerel, sea salt, herbs, fermented in the sun for 20 days, then 40 more days after that with daily stirring.
Garum Ibericum
Garum Ibericum was a version of garum made by the Romans on the Iberian Peninsula — Portugal and Spain. It was made of fish pieces, herbs and salt allowed to ferment to a thick paste. At Quinta do Marim in Portugal, some portions of the Roman garum factories that produced garum ibericum still stand.
Japanese Fish Sauce
In Japan alone, there are three different types of fish sauce made: shottsuru (from Akita Prefecture), ishiru (from Ishikawa Prefecture) and ikanago-jōyu (from Kagawa Prefecture.) All are made from fish and shellfish. Japanese versions of fish sauces are milder than those in other countries because Japanese consumers don’t like the strong fish smell of many…
Liquamen
Liquamen was a Roman fish sauce. Liquamen may originally have been a fish sauce different from the other Roman fish sauce, Garum. Some speculate that unlike Garum, Liquamen was originally just made from whatever fish and fish bits. The Romans were real snobs about food, and the fact that it wasn’t recorded in the 1st…
Muria
Muria was a fish sauce like garum. It was less expensive than garum as it was made from tuna instead of mackerel. Because it was not as dear, it is more likely to have been used instead of garum by common folk or soldiers in their supplies. In some places in the Empire and at…
Oyster Sauce
Oyster Sauce is a thick, salty-tasting savoury sauce with a mild oyster flavour to it. It is usually made from a large oyster species called Crassostrea sp. It has no fishy taste, despite its name. It is used a great deal in Chinese restaurants as it is a standard ingredient in Chinese cooking. It is…
Pissala
Pissala is a fish paste. Fish is fermented for a few days, then puréed and mixed with olive oil and seasoned with thyme, bay leaf, cloves, etc. Generally anchovies are used, but sardines can also be used. Unlike some of the earlier Roman fish sauces and pastes that were made, the strong taste of the…
Thai Fish Sauce
Fish sauce is called “nam pla” in Thai, meaning literally “fish water.” There are four grades of Fish Sauce made in Thailand. All will be a reddish-brown sauce; better quality ones will be somewhat transparent, rather than murky. All are generally made from very small fish, such as anchovies. The fish are caught and, while…
Vietnamese Fish Sauce
The Fish Sauce produced in Vietnam (called “nước mắm” in Vietnamese) is a golden-coloured one that is fermented for a year in wooden vats in the dark. In Vietnamese, “nuóc” means “water”; “mám” means “salted fish.” Vietnamese fish sauce was essentially off the market outside of Vietnam from 1975 until the United States lifted trade…