The ancient shipwreck is remarkably well preserved and contains more than 300 amphorae that were being used to transport a cargo of fish sauce, olive oil and wine from the Spanish mainland.Image credit: ARQUEOMALLORNAUTA Project
The ancient shipwreck is remarkably well preserved and contains more than 300 amphorae that were being used to transport a cargo of fish sauce, olive oil and wine from the Spanish mainland.Image credit: ARQUEOMALLORNAUTA Project
Mmmmm, nothing like fermented fish guts.
“In another key discovery, the wooden “step” connecting the mast to the hull was found to contain a coin from Roman Siscia (in modern-day Croatia), in line with Roman rituals for blessing a ship. The coin was made during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great and fixed the earliest possible date of the ship as A.D. 320...”
Some traditions never die...
https://en.tallink.com/blog-mystar/-/blogs/lucky-coins-under-the-keel
https://www.marthastewart.com/7844343/fish-sauce-explained
For a condiment that brings so much complexity to the table, the way it is made is actually quite simple: Fish, typically anchovies, are packed into large vats with salt and left to ferment until they essentially liquify, a process that usually takes around nine months but can take up to a year. That liquid is then strained—and, in some cases, left to age even longer—before being bottled. You may be wondering what keeps the fish from becoming rotten or dangerous to eat. The key word is fermentation, an ancient preserving method that uses salt to halt the harmful bacteria that would normally cause the food to spoil. While the salt is keeping the bad bacteria out, the beneficial bacteria is let loose to mingle. It’s the fermentation process that gives fish sauce its signature flavor that can be described as deeply savory and umami.
In another key discovery, the wooden “step” connecting the mast to the hull was found to contain a coin from Roman Siscia (in modern-day Croatia), in line with Roman rituals for blessing a ship. The coin was made during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great and fixed the earliest possible date of the ship as A.D. 320...
https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/2017/03/17/hidden-treasures/
Mast Coins
There is a long-standing tradition of placing a coin under a mast as the mast is stepped in a vessel. Why? Two of the most common answers to this centuries-old maritime tradition are:
1. The coin, especially if it was silver or gold, would bring the vessel good luck on its voyages;
2. If the vessel foundered, the coin would be used by the crew to pay Charon, the ferryman of Hades, who transported the newly deceased from the world of the living to the world of the dead.
I used to make a mean kimchee with fish sauce. I was the only one in the house who ate it and they would all complain when I opened the jar. That and sardines.
Like "Hebrew National", only different.
Doesn’t look too seaworthy.
No wonder it sunk.
Anyone knowledgeable about far eastern food knows that fish sauce is still used in Vietnam,Philippines and Indonesia where it is named “trassi” It is an extreme flavor enhancer. Smells like hell but tastes divine. Just like those who disdain durian fruit. They’re missing a rge part of culinary delight.
MMMMMMM...GARUM!!
It’s pretty tasty...
I think that stuff was called garum. It was a delicacy.
I wish I was alive back then and also now and also 5000 years into the future and I wish I would live twenty people’s lives at once at all times in all forms as every form of animal on every planet in every universe all at once.
Roly Poly Fish Heads..Eat them up, yum!
Ancient Rome Was Infested with Human Parasites, Poop Shows
snip..."Also, many Romans enjoyed eating an uncooked and fermented fish sauce called garum. "Roman enthusiasm" for garum may explain why fish tapeworm parasites were so common in the empire, as the parasites live in fish. (Cooking the fish kills the parasite, Mitchell said.)"
Tinned anchovies have been heat processed.
Ancient Roman Garum Revisited - Tasting History with Max Miller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICZww0DtQKk
