• PugJesus@piefed.socialOPM
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    4 months ago

    Explanation: Romans were inordinately fond of a kind of fermented fish sauce they called garum. Like wine, it had low-quality varieties, which, also like low-quality wine, were considered the essential part of even a slave’s rations; and high-quality varieties, which could cost a year’s wages for a common laborer for a single container! The Romans put their fermented fish sauce in everything - on their bread, in their porridge, on their salads, even in their wine! De gustibus non disputandem est - there’s no accounting for taste!

    • SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Philippines a common combination is fermented shrimp paste and mango.

      It’s kinda a pineapple + ham on pizza effect. The super salty combines with sweet/sour surprisingly well.

    • Broadfern@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Cheapish protein and salt I guess?

      USians love our sugar that overwhelms the rest of the world, though, so can’t throw stones on taste weirdness lmao

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
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        4 months ago

        The protein in it probably doesn’t matter nutritionally. Modern fish sauce is like 25% salt and <10% protein, you use only a couple of drops or small splashes per meal. You generally want to filter most solids out to keep it easy to pour/splash/drop.
        It’s a bit hard to tell if roman fish sauce was the same, but judging by Tasting History’s attempt at making historically accurate garum it was probably quite similar to modern east/south-east-asian fish sauces.