By Dimitra Mylona
In May 968 a diplomat from the Kingdom of Pavia in northern Italy, Liutprand of Cremona, arrived in Constantinople to meet Emperor Nicephorus Phocas. The official purpose of the visit was a matchmaking between Otto II, crown prince of the Holy Roman Empire (of the West) and Theophano, niece of Emperor Nikephoros Phokas. However, the real purpose of his visit was different. Relations between the two sides were not very friendly but the common threat of the Arabs pushed them to diplomacy and alliance efforts. The marriage took place, but the diplomatic mission failed. Liutprand, in his work Relatio, describes with discomfort and dark colors his experience in the Byzantine court.
Among political comments and gossip, we read one of the last references to a great product of antiquity, garum! This is the famous fish sauce, a product of fermentation and processing. Garum caused excitement and culinary passion in the ancient world and brought great wealth to entire regions on the shores of the Mediterranean. But in the 10th century, in the heart of the Middle Ages, Liutprand had nothing good to say about it, that “wretched liquid made from fish”. He tried it in an elaborate, and in his opinion disgusting recipe with goat meat, cooked in olive oil, garlic, onions, and leeks. It seems that the diplomat from Cremona came from a world that had already forgotten one of the most emblematic elements of Roman luxury, garum!
Searching for ancient garum
Garum is one of the most emblematic products of the ancient Mediterranean and its journey through space and time was linked to this region’s long history. And yet, until a few decades ago it was forgotten almost everywhere around the Mediterranean. Then, archeology and ancient history partnered with chemistry to uncover the secrets of this ancient delicacy. With enough experimentation and the enthusiastic input of modern cooks, garum was reborn. Culinary traditions in other parts of the world had their own garums, made according to their own environmental specificities and historical trajectories. To this day in East Asia, various seafood items end up in fermentation tanks to produce a host of fish sauces. Today, the paths of the ancient Mediterranean garum and those of the garums from elsewhere in the world have converged and, as we shall see below, the boundaries between them are becoming blurred and perhaps meaningless
The reader of ancient Greek and Latin literary texts often encounters references to garum. The texts speak of garum recipes, garum sellers and garum shops, of cities famous for their garum, of excellent garums made from tuna liver, and of ordinary garums, made from small fish that are otherwise useless. They talk about the wealth generated by garum trade, but also about the wealth spent to enjoy the exquisite garums that circulated in the Mediterranean markets
Archaeology comes to complete the picture. In the central and western Mediterranean, factories for the production of garum and other fish products were set up near rich fishing grounds, as early as the 5th century BCE. On the coast, complexes with open and covered areas and rows of small and larger tanks accommodated the processing of a variety of fish products: garum, muria, liquamen, alec, salted fish, fish in brine, and dried fish in various forms. These facilities, analogous to the large modern fish processing factories, often had their own ceramic workshops that produced the ceramic vessels necessary for packaging and trading the fish products. They also had their own piers, where fishing boats brought the raw material and merchant ships loaded the finished product to be shipped to the markets of the world.
Fishy transformations
Garum is at the heart of an extreme antithesis, one of those that philosophy is called upon to handle! It is born from the decomposition (of fish), from the deconstruction of the flesh, from the repulsive fumes and the foul environment of the ancient fish factories. But it ripens and transforms into a brilliant, clear, amber colored liquid, that smells of the sea and tastes of umami. A liquid loved by everyone, from the hardy Roman soldiers who campaigned for months on end to the emperors and their courtiers who lived the indulgent life of the palaces.
Garum was produced from fish: small whole fish, livers of tuna or other large fish, or just fish innards. Oysters, clams, whale meat and more could be added to the basic ingredients. They were mixed with salt in specific proportions and left for weeks in the sun. This condition led to an explosion of bacteria and controlled decomposition, and ultimately to the fermentation of the mixture, to the hydrolysis of the fish flesh, and to the creation of a liquid, rich in proteins and in glutamates that make it particularly tasty.
Fermentation took place either in large clay containers called dolia in Roman times or in built tanks, coated with waterproof mortar. In the weeks of fermentation and preparation the mixture gave off a sickly, pungent smell, almost the whiff of decay. But at the end of the process, the unpleasant smell had been replaced by a deep, rich aroma, an integral element of the charm of garum. The liquid was drained and decanted into special storage vessels, the label of which described the contents.
Many ancient writers describe the process, but the most detailed and accurate account comes from a 10th century work entitled Geoponica (“Farm Work”). Note that this work comes from the time when Liutprand visited Constantinople. Geoponica is an agricultural handbook that, luckily for us, includes excerpts from works dating as far back as the 1st century BCE. In other words, it includes much of the agricultural knowledge of antiquity. It provides a total of four recipes for garum, while from other ancient written sources we learn about the existence of many more.
The result of a complex process, garum was a polymorphic product. Its taste, color, aroma, texture and generally its quality depended on many factors: the type of fish used, the addition of other seafood, the size and parts of the fish used, the fermentation time, the inclusion of other materials such as wine, vinegar, and honey, the skill of the producers, the place of production, the type of packaging, and more. Depending on the above, cheap and commonly found, but also fine, rare and very expensive garums were produced. All this variety supported a trade that could be described as trans-regional. Archaeological excavations have uncovered garum of Mediterranean origin in remote areas, where Roman legions once reached (e.g. Germany, Belgium, England) or where trade routes led (e.g. Israel, Egypt).
Garum and other fish products: necessity or taste?
Processing is associated with the existence of schooling fish, loaded nets, and abundance! It is no coincidence that the most iconic fish products in the Mediterranean and throughout the world are made from schooling fish: sardines, anchovies, herring, cod, mullet, tuna, mackerel, bonito, and the like. Many of them are migratory and appear in each place at certain times, weeks or even days every year! The fish bring abundance, such that it becomes a problem. Fish do not stay fresh for long and in days without refrigeration and freezing, with slow paced transportation means, the seasonal abundance of fish could easily go to waste.
Processing solves the problem; fish can be dried, salted, brined, smoked, fermented, or be preserved in combinations of the above. All these processes delay putrefaction, allow storage (and therefore trade), and turn the delicate, perishable flesh of the fish into a long-lasting food, something that can be eaten at any time. Scholars of the ancient economy point out that in the past, processed fish saved people from starvation in times when agricultural products were depleted. Could this explain why they appear in Geoponica, as Roxani suggests?
Garum was a product that fits the above description; also makes the remains of other processing methods useful and edible: entrails, heads, skin and scales. The geographical distribution of garum and the long duration of its production, for over a millennium, clearly demonstrate that at least this type of fish transformation was very successful.
But was it only necessity that gave birth to it? Were the reasons behind the spread of garum only economic? If we take a look at the dozens of recipes for simple and elaborate dishes from antiquity, we find that very few of them mention the addition of salt. Many, however, talk about the use of salty garum instead of salt. Historians of ancient diet have collected several such recipes, some of which mention garum and also liquamen, a variant of garum that was very popular in Roman cuisine. For example, Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger’s The Classical Cookbook showcases many recipes from ancient sources involving fish sauce (adapted for the modern kitchen): asparagus pie, roast duck with hazelnuts, seafood patties with cumin sauce, stuffed chicken, pork with apples and more! But the written sources, especially the Greek ones, also mention garum as a condiment, something that is added to boiled greens and vegetables for taste.
As we mentioned above, the ancient food markets had a wide variety of fish sauces and other processed products of the sea. In fact, consumers often looked for their designation of origin and sometimes the name of the producer, especially for the most expensive ones. Areas famous for their garum and for other fish products were, for example, Gades (present-day Gadiz) and Baelo Glaudia on the Spanish Atlantic coast near the Straits of Gibraltar, Carthage in northern Africa, and the north Black Sea coast. The producers and traders of the time cashed in on the reputation of exceptional quality, and for this reason, we often find abbreviated inscriptions stating the contents and origin of the product on amphorae. These are known by the Latin term tituli picti.
How great the desire for fine fish sauces and other processed products was, we understand from an amazing archaeological find in Corinth of the 5th century BCE. The excavation of a house conventionally named “the House of the Merchant”, unearthed thousands of fragments of imported amphorae (vessels for transporting products with two handles, a narrow base and a generally long body). Many of them contained wine from places like Mende, Thasos and Kos. But several seem to have contained garum and salted fish (tuna and guildhead sea bream). These amphorae have a very distinctive shape, which indicates that they were made in workshops on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and Gades. Some come from Sicily. In the cosmopolitan Corinth of the time, a busy international port, consumers demanded imported luxury goods, including wines from the Aegean and garum from the west, even though similar local products were also available. It is no coincidence that some of the largest fish processing factories of the ancient world have been excavated in the very places that produced the “Merchant’s House” amphorae. Archaeological research gives us an idea of this international trade and complements the picture we get from ancient written sources.
The history of garum
The idea of turning fresh fish into a long-lasting edible liquid is really old. The first testimonies come from the Akkadian Empire of the 3rd millennium BCE centered on modern-day Iraq and extending at its height from the Persian Gulf to Syria. By Classical and Hellenistic times (5th-2nd centuries BCE) it had become a well-known and much-loved condiment throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, while in Roman times, garum was consumed by everyone and everywhere. It was included in the military diet, no matter how far from the sea the army ranged, poems were written about it, and it was the subject of banquet discussions. In this period, the production of garum (and other fish products) had reached enormous proportions. Entire cities flourished and grew rich from it.
This flourishing came to an end after the 6th century AD, with the collapse of the Roman Empire. There was no longer a large army to be supplied with huge quantities of garum, areas with large manufacturing plants became fields of conflict, and trade sea routes became dangerous. Gone were the days for international business! In the west garum was produced less often and very locally. In the east, however, things were different! As the Byzantine Empire flourished, garum remained one of the luxury symbols inherited from the Roman past. Production in the East continued for a few centuries more, with the Black Sea and perhaps the coasts of the Near East being the new centers. When Liutprand visited the imperial court of Nikephoros Phokas, garum still had a place in the luxurious banquets of the Byzantine world.
But then something seems to have changed. Garum falls off the radar of ancient historians. We meet it again in the 16th century, changed, and certainly degraded. Pierre Belon, a French traveler, naturalist, writer and diplomat visited Constantinople, by then the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In his work Observationes we read that “there was a liquid called garum, formerly used in Rome as often as vinegar is now. In Turkey it is still loved. There is no fish shop in Istanbul that does not sell it, especially in the neighborhood of Pera. They prepare fresh fish daily, sell them fried and use their eggs and offal. They put them in brine and make garum.” At this time garum was produced on a very small scale.
The renaissance of garum and the Michelin stars
And, as if by miracle, the garum knowledge that was almost dead, is now revived! Garum is making a strong come back!!!!
It all started with the work of archaeologists and historians who studied the production of garum and other fish products as important components of the Roman economy. The researchers were interested in the scale of production and questions such as how many tons of product each archaeologically located factory produced per year and how this activity was connected to other complementary ones (aqueduct construction, production of clay transport vessels, maritime trade, etc.). In order to better understand the production of garum, but also to more accurately evaluate the written testimonies and correctly interpret the archaeological findings, they adopted complementary approaches. They observed and recorded how fish sauce is made today in Southeast Asia (ethnography), experimented following the instructions of ancient writers (experimental archaeology), and enlisted chemistry to understand the fermentation process and ensure the food safety of the final product (chemical analysis).
Eventually scholars succeeded in reviving ancient garum in its various forms and this product was included in experimental, and very enjoyable, revivals of ancient recipes and meals. In fact, some proceeded to package and market it. The event aroused the interest of the media: antiquity came alive and indeed in a way that touches all of us, on the plate!
At this point garum left the field of antiquities and local societies, and famous chefs picked up the torch of history. In locations with a long tradition in fish processing and with strong evidence for the existence of garum factories in antiquity, the interest from the public and the local authorities was great. They viewed garum as an element of their cultural heritage. The area of Troy in Portugal is one such example. Today one can visit the ancient fish processing plants, which still smell strongly of fish. In the area of those factories modern garum is now produced. The endeavor is supported by the local administration, meticulously planned and widely promoted.
But Portugal has a long tradition in fish processing, not only in ancient times but also in recent centuries. Its canned sardines already won the world market but also quality awards since the 19th century, as for instance, in 1855 in the great Paris Trade Fair. Today canned sardines, elegant and displayed like jewels, are sold to tourists, in luxury shops, in Lisbon and elsewhere, at exorbitant prices. The reborn garum joined the same context of luxury edible products with roots in the past.
The reference to the past, the air of authenticity and purity that is acquired through this relationship, as well as its rarity, brought garum to the culinary spotlight and attracted the attention of great chefs experimenting in the field of alternative cooking and haute cuisine. These cooks, experienced in international cuisine (and Southeast Asian cooking ingredients) and often awarded Michelin stars, began to experiment with both the use and production of garum. The Catalan Pere Planagumá, with two Michelin stars under his hat, for example, makes his own garum under the ESCATA brand, markets it and adds it himself to spicy dishes as well as chocolate desserts in his high end restaurant. In his own way, he brings the connection between garum and luxury, so well-known since ancient times, to present!
In the Nordic countries, where the Roman way of life made a fleeting appearance, garum relates to local traditions of fish processing and today it acquires a postmodern quality. The iconic three-star Michelin restaurant NOMA embraces garum and the tradition of fermentation and integrates it into the new dynamic culinary trends that are spreading around the world. As NOMA’s garum creators say, they borrow the term garum from the past, redefine it, and then reinvent it. Forget the fish! Today garum can be made with mushrooms, pumpkin, rice and eggs, turkey and anything else you can think of.
In a meeting dedicated to garum, organized by the cultural organization Turquaz in May 2021, history, archaeology, ethnography, chemistry, journalism and haute gastronomy came together and the question was urgently asked: what is garum today, in the 21st century?
We, with this post, respond with the following thought: Isn’t it extraordinary that a controversial, much-loved and much-hated fish product that we first encountered in the Akkadian empire five millennia ago is still of concern to us?
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Wow! Impressive research!