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Garum
#16
I used Blue Dragon's Stir Fry Oyster and Spring Onion Sauce when cooking Parthian Chicken with Honeyed Mushrooms (both from Apicius) last week. Not terribly authentic, but it worked extremely well. Results were delicious, though I do say so myself.
Carus Andiae - David Woodall

"The greatest military machine in the history of the universe..."
"What is - the Daleks?"
"No... the Romans!" - Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens
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#17
Marsvigilia, you know I'm french and we're pretty much into foul smelling foods, so could you elaborate a bit on Mam Nem? My mouth is watering already... :lol:
Is it as foul smelling as, say, ripe Camembert cheese?
Or maybe better than that?
And yes they sometimes did leave the guts. It depended on the brand and the quality. Garum came in a zillion qualities and strenghts and tastes. It was then a huge industry and since competition rules, I suspect that every garum maker had its own secrets. The old "made from a secret recipe" stuff..
Carus, what about giving us the recipe for the parthian chicken a la Apicius?
Pascal Sabas
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#18
I like Camembert. I like ripe Camembert, from France not the week tasteless smear sold in the US.

Mam Nem is nothing like this. It is the vile putrid refuse.

If you can stomach it, then you are a better man than I.

If you are going to be at Roman Days in Maryland this June, I will bring my bottle and you may have a taste.

[Image: MamNem.jpg][/list]
>|P. Dominus Antonius|<
Leg XX VV
Tony Dah m

Oderint dum metuant - Cicero
Si vis pacem, para bellum - Vegetius
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#19
Quote:Carus, what about giving us the recipe for the parthian chicken a la Apicius?


PARTHIAN CHICKEN:
SERVES 4

4 pieces Chicken (breast or leg - I used breast)
Ground black pepper
6 fl. Oz. (3/4 cup/170ml) red wine
2 tablespoons (30ml) fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida powder/5 drops asafoetida tincture (I used powder)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh lovage or celery leaf
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (I left these out because I couldn't find them)

Place the chicken in a casserole dish and sprinkle liberally with black pepper. Combine the wine, fish sauce and asafoetida, add the lovage and caraway seeds and pour over the chicken. Cover and place in pre-heated oven at 375 deg F (190 deg C/Gas Mark 5) for 30 minutes. Remove lid and return to oven for another 30 minutes. Serve with some of the sauce poured over the chicken.

HONEYED MUSHROOMS:
SERVES 4

1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil
1 tablespoon (15ml) fish sauce
1 tablepoon (15ml/30g) honey
2 teaspoons chopped fresh lovage or celery leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 oz (225g) large open mushrooms, thickly sliced

Combine the oil, fish sauce and honey in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the lovage and pepper and the sliced mushrooms. Cook out briskly in order to reduce the liquid so that, when you serve, the fish sauce and natural water will have boiled away and the honey and oil give a glaze to the mushrooms.

I would suggest, however, slightly increasing the quantities in both recipes because I found the portions rather small for four.
Carus Andiae - David Woodall

"The greatest military machine in the history of the universe..."
"What is - the Daleks?"
"No... the Romans!" - Doctor Who: The Pandorica Opens
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#20
I will be bringing some really delicious Thai fish sauce
in my new Garum bottle to Roman Days NE in Maryland.

This reproduction is based on an original amphora actually used for transporting Garum, from about 300 AD.
I widened the bottom slighly so that it could stand easily on a table.
It is about 9" tall.

Here is a picture of the original:
[Image: Garam-Amphora-Original.jpg]


Here is a reproduction, but glazed rather than beeswaxed on the inside:
[Image: Garam-Amphora-Plain.jpg]

And here is a reproduction done in terra sigillata, with beeswax on the inside:[Image: Garam-Amphora-T-Sig-9-inch.jpg]

These sell for $48.00 US.
Saluti, Love and Light
Iulia Cassia Vegetia
a.k.a Julia Passamonti-Colamartino
Legio III Cyrenaica
Maker of Amphorae
<a class="postlink" href="http://venetiancat.com">http://venetiancat.com
Once I learned to herd cats, I realized that ANYTHING is possible..."
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#21
Very beatiful amphore. Original is from Pompei?
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#22
Ca. 300 AD and from Pompeii, Lucius? Tsk, tsk,... :wink:

Aitor
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.

Rolf Steiner
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#23
:oops: I do'nt have read the date.
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#24
Nobody's perfect... (not even me! Tongue )
Have you received my last two e-mails?
Not in detriment of Julia's beautiful work, but she's too far away from us. I think that we could produce such items locally... 8)
And now, thanks to the generosity of Tony Dahm, we have GARUM!! :mrgreen: Not for Tarragona, but I expect to promote some Roman cookery for our September festival...

Aitor
It\'s all an accident, an accident of hands. Mine, others, all without mind, from one extreme to another, but neither works nor will ever.

Rolf Steiner
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#25
Quote:And now, thanks to the generosity of Tony Dahm, we have GARUM!! :mrgreen: Not for Tarragona, but I expect to promote some Roman cookery for our September festival...
[size=150:3gxdpmpc]A[/size]itor my friend, I hope your results are better then the stuff I have tried... It must be I'm too modern... I don't know, but garum sure hasn't done "it" for me yet Cry
Best, Marsh
DECIMvS MERCATIvS VARIANvS
a.k.a.: Marsh Wise
Legio IX Hispana www.legioix.org

Alteris renumera duplum de quoquo tibi numeraverunt

"A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired." -- Alexander Hamilton

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.... But then I repeat myself." ~Mark Twain

[img size=150]http://www.romanobritain.org/Graphics/marsh_qr1.png[/img]
(Oooh, Marshall, you cannot use an icky modern QR code, it is against all policies and rules.)
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#26
Unfortunately, I do not have information as to where the original was found. But I think that in Spain, (I assume that's where you folks are???)and in Europe in general, it would be far easier to find a potter that could reproduce the form than it would be here. I own a couple of Spanish maiolica plates which are just beautiful. From what I have seen, Spanish pottery is not much different than Italian in that most pieces are made from terra cotta. And terra cotta is what the ancients used to create their wares.
Also, classical history in Europe (at least in Italy)is much more studied and thus more generally known than here in the US, so a potter would be more open to creating an ancient form, I think.
Here in the States-at least on the East coast, where I am, hardly anybody works with terra cotta unless they are doing those really ugly slip-molded pieces-(at least to my knowledge.) What one mostly finds here is stoneware.
Glad that you liked the pieces Big Grin
Saluti, Love and Light
Iulia Cassia Vegetia
a.k.a Julia Passamonti-Colamartino
Legio III Cyrenaica
Maker of Amphorae
<a class="postlink" href="http://venetiancat.com">http://venetiancat.com
Once I learned to herd cats, I realized that ANYTHING is possible..."
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#27
Quote:Glad that you liked the pieces Big Grin
[size=150:24rv2tya]H[/size]i Julia, I figured I'd chime in w/ how much I like your work. I am anxiosuly waiting the garum container and pitcher and still want the small bowls too! ;-) ) How do you coat the garum container? Beeswax or clear glaze?? I am sure you told me, but being an idiot, I have forgotten.

And HEY, you're up later than I am... or getting up mighty early ;-0
Best, Marsh
DECIMvS MERCATIvS VARIANvS
a.k.a.: Marsh Wise
Legio IX Hispana www.legioix.org

Alteris renumera duplum de quoquo tibi numeraverunt

"A fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired." -- Alexander Hamilton

"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.... But then I repeat myself." ~Mark Twain

[img size=150]http://www.romanobritain.org/Graphics/marsh_qr1.png[/img]
(Oooh, Marshall, you cannot use an icky modern QR code, it is against all policies and rules.)
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#28
HI MARSH!!!
I am getting up early-I'm definitely one of those "morning people" :wink: It's pretty normal for me to be up at 5:30am.
Your garam amphora is glazed on the inside. Clear glaze is not period, but most folks prefer it to beeswax since it won't absorb odors. And you can't tell it's glazed unless you feel the inside of the piece. It's the same glaze that's on your water bottle. And NO, you're not an idiot-absent- minded maybe, but NOT an IDIOT :lol:
Re small bowls: How many? You can e-mail me offline on the details if you prefer.
Saluti, Love and Light
Iulia Cassia Vegetia
a.k.a Julia Passamonti-Colamartino
Legio III Cyrenaica
Maker of Amphorae
<a class="postlink" href="http://venetiancat.com">http://venetiancat.com
Once I learned to herd cats, I realized that ANYTHING is possible..."
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#29
GARUM

As they are with modern Romans, sauces and marinades were an essential element in ancient Roman cuisine. One of the most popular was garum, a salty, aromatic, fish-based sauce. Like so many other Roman treasures, it was borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Apicius used it in all his recipes, and the poet Martial wrote of it: "Accept this exquisite garum, a precious gift made with the first blood spilled from a living mackerel."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempire ... garum.html

Garum is really simple.

Fish, preferably Mackerel, but any 'oily' one will do such as sardines.
Salt and then Herbs; dill, coriander, fennel, mint, oregano, etc.

Layer these starting at the bottom with herbs, fish, salt, herbs, fish, salt, etc.
Fill container(s) with this and let sit in the SUN! After a week to ten days stir/mix every other day for three weeks. Then filter it through coffee filters, or cheese cloth until it looks like a slightly cloudy herb tea.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use fatty fish, for example, sardines, and a well-sealed (pitched) container with a 26-35 quart capacity. Add dried, aromatic herbs possessing a strong flavor, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint, oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then put down a layer of fish (if small, leave them whole, if large, use pieces) and over this, add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these layers until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix the sauce daily for 20 days. After that, it becomes a liquid.

- Gargilius Martialis, De medicina et de virtute herbarum, reprinted from A Taste of Ancient Rome
If you like Roman cooking try :
'A Taste of Ancient Rome' by Ilaria Gozzini Gicosa
ISBN 0-226-29032-8

OR
'Roman Cookery, Ancient Recipes forModern Kitchens' by Mark Grant
ISBN 1-897959-39-7

Thanks to "Lucius Equitius Cincinnatus Augur" (a.k.a. Michael Cope), for sending me this recipe.

More Roman Recipes:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempire ... garum.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempire ... cipes.html
Saluti, Love and Light
Iulia Cassia Vegetia
a.k.a Julia Passamonti-Colamartino
Legio III Cyrenaica
Maker of Amphorae
<a class="postlink" href="http://venetiancat.com">http://venetiancat.com
Once I learned to herd cats, I realized that ANYTHING is possible..."
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#30
Here is the Modern one I use, turns out really nice and is simple, have
not done the Ancient one yet.....

Try the modern recipe for yourself, leave the ancient one for.....Thy Enemy?

Garum Fish Sauce

As they are with modern Romans, sauces and marinades were an
essential element in ancient Roman cuisine. One of the most popular was
garum, a salty, aromatic, fish-based sauce. Like so many other Roman
treasures, it was borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Apicius used it in all
his recipes, and the poet Martial wrote of it: "Accept this exquisite garum,
a precious gift made with the first blood spilled from a living mackerel."


I won't recommend you try the ancient version (see below). Instead, try
the easier modern recipe.

Ancient Garum Recipe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use fatty fish, for example, sardines, and a well-sealed (pitched)
container with a 26-35 quart capacity. Add dried, aromatic herbs
possessing a strong flavor, such as dill, coriander, fennel, celery, mint,
oregano, and others, making a layer on the bottom of the container; then
put down a layer of fish (if small, leave them whole, if large, use pieces)
and over this, add a layer of salt two fingers high. Repeat these layers
until the container is filled. Let it rest for seven days in the sun. Then mix
the sauce daily for 20 days. After that, it becomes a liquid.

- Gargilius Martialis, De medicina et de virtute herbarum, reprinted from
A Taste of Ancient Rome


Modern Garum Recipe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cook a quart of grape juice, reducing it to one-tenth its original volume.
Dilute two tablespoons of anchovy paste in the concentrated juice and
mix in a pinch of oregano (Or Curry or Celery spice, or rosmary,
experiment) but DO NOT USE GRAPE PUNCH,use only Grape Juice!.
Vale, Bryan
(Titus Rustius Lupus)
Armatus Et Ebrius

LEG XXX, Ulpia Victrix
Ontario, Canada



Thanks for having patience with me...
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