To Cordatus and Lucian

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IamLEAM1983
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To Cordatus and Lucian

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

Would either of you consider using garum in a modern-day dish?
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

The dragon looks vaguely amused.

"I imagine you're expecting either of us to wax lyrical of Pliny the Elder's refering to oily fish sauces as 'choice liquor', but the fact is that extracting oils and essences from small fish - or even tuna - is still relevent to this day. The old country's Worcestershire sauce contains reduced anchovies, as does Thailand's Nam Pla. I do miss the tang of Roman oregano as was found in Pliny's Haimaition - which you could refer to as being Rome's idea of high-grade fish sauce reserved for the best scullions in the Empire - but I am far from lacking in alternatives.

No, the true Gordian knot of perparing Roman garum lies in the modern time's intolerance for pungent smells. In my youth, Rome was a sensory crater filled to the brim with scents both pleasing and foul, and both masters of House Cambrius prided themselves in being able to source the freshest anchovies; which meant they'd only spent a week baking under the hot sun, while sealed away in earthenware pots and travelling from the East to the West. Today, the most comparable scent one could find would involve salted sürstromming - a delicacy for those near the Arctic circle, a bane to one's nostrils for nearly anyone else. Even if my home were restored to me following the enemy's retreat, no walls would prevent my garum pots from fouling the neighborhood's very air for weeks on end."

He chuckles.

"No, old boy - I would much rather keep my neighbors in good spirits and content myself with the old store-bought Wooster than risk complaints from the Sanitation department." 
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"I would add that Dalarath had very little trouble in keeping its own warehouses of fermented goods properly ventilated, but we honestly have no credit to claim. A few written proclamations, one or two spoken edicts, and permanent air drafts or wind tunnel effects could be put into place to force any masses of befouled air to move upwards. Most of us welcomed these measures, but Nereus' predecessors in particular service of Harrogath have had private chimneys of a sort set in place, from private storerooms to some of their apartments in the palace. The more foul the scent of brine and decay, the more the Hungering God's appetite was said to have been whetted."
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