Fish sauce is the backbone of Southeast Asian cuisine. Fish (usually anchovies) are mixed with sea salt and fermented. The liquid is separated from the solids to produce fish sauce. In Thailand it is called it nam pla, in Vietnam, nuoc mam. Fish sauce in the Philippines is called patis, and Korea, aek jeot. According to Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking, fish fermentation “arose several thousand years ago in the freshwaters of Southwest China and the Mekong River region. It then spread to coastal deltas and was applied to ocean fish.†McGee goes on to cite the origin of Asian fish sauces as garum, an ancient Roman sauce that “consists of the guts of fish and other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse, so the garum is really the liquor from putrefaction.â€, according to the Roman historian, Pliny. It was said that the best garum was made only from mackerel and came from Roman outposts in Spain. As a liquid, it’s value was comparable to the finest perfumes. Fish sauce is believed to be the precursor to soy sauce. McGee states that first foods fermented by the Chinese, fish and meats, were eventually replaced by soy beans in the 2nd century BCE.
You must be logged in to post a comment.