November 15, 2006

Condiment

Ketchup.
Mustard.


Fish sauce.
(I wonder how you say, "Honey, please pass the fish sauce." in 1st century Rome.)
The good news is that the discovery of the amphoras containing fish sauce could lead to the re-creation of its recipe. "The fish sauce is no longer in the amphoras because the seals were not hermetic and could not withstand 20 centuries under water. But traces of fish bone remain inside and these will help researchers determine how the sauces were made." Yummy.

1 comment:

Nat said...

Hey, if you think the general idea of fish sauce sounds disgusting, read Salt by Kurlansky. We aren't talking a base of nice, mildly fishy anchovy paste, we're talking spoiled fish guts. And it traveled around the trade routes. A variant is still popular in Southeast Asia.