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> In fact, Roman cuisine wasn’t at all like Italian food. It was all about contrasting sweet with salty and sour foods (they liked to eat fishgut sauce, garum,
by carlob 9y ago
> In fact, Roman cuisine wasn’t at all like Italian food. It was all about contrasting sweet with salty and sour foods (they liked to eat fishgut sauce, garum, with melon).
It's true that it wasn't at all like Italian food, but this is a particularly bad example:
1. garum kinda lives on as colatura di alici, though the former was fermented, and the latter isn't [1]
2. Italian cuisine still contrast melon with salty food, just prosciutto, not fish
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_Alici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_Alici
- JBReefer 9y agoGarum also lives on as Worcestershire sauce, which unlike colatura is still fermented. I'm happy you showed me this, it's incredible to see living Roman history, still 2,000 miles apart! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire_sauce
- dekhn 9y agoI remember looking at the ingredient list as a kid and wondering why in the world you would put fermented fish in a sauce. Then I learned biology, in particular the molecular nature of umami, and it makes perfect sense.
- triplesec 9y agoFish sauce of course is a Thai and far east staple!
- thekaleb 9y agoThe book The History of Salt says that soy sauce originally started out as fermented fish sauce and that it and garum may have a common ancestor.
- abakker 9y agoAlso the basis of Sambal sauces from Indonesia. I think thy may be shrimp based, though.
- Mikeb85 9y agoThey were more than likely developed independently. Putting a bunch of fish in a container and adding salt seems pretty standard pre-refrigeration.
- jacobolus 9y agoI recommend this lecture about the history of ketchup, which explains the relation to soy sauce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iYwUh1Hdho https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iYwUh1Hdho
- maxerickson 9y agoI guess it is notable that the Romans didn't have tomatoes.
- carlob 9y agoOr zucchini, peppers, eggplants, chillies, and coffee which are all staples of Italian cuisine now.
- wizardforhire 9y agoDon't forget pasta, avocados, pineapples, chocolate, potatoes or chocolate
- carlob 9y agoThe Romans probably had some kind of fried pasta called lagana (probably cognate of lasagna), the other things you mention are not quite staples, for example avocados are still pretty hard to come by in Italy.
- wizardforhire 9y agoYeah avocados are a stretch. I included them because last time I was in Italy there was a tray of avocados with balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella everyday and at every meal at catering and I was there for a few weeks. It was delicious but threw me off. Pineapples on the other hand I've been able to find at nearly every street pizza vendor and and pineapple juice in almost every grocery and convenient store. There's no doubt Italians and Greeks were making something with their grain, wheat was domesticated not far from Italy in Turkey of course, but they weren't making pasta until Marco Polo or somebody brought the practice back from China. I think the real issue is when does "Italy" really begin, and what constitutes "Italian food"? Of course none of this really matters it's just fun to argue about mainly because Italians are just so proud of their food. I guess all cultures are and rightfully so.
- 9y ago
- webster23 9y agoDid you read the article you linked to? It clearly states: "The sauce is a transparent, amber-colored liquid, produced by fermenting anchovies in brine"
- Coincoin 9y agoEvery time I put salt on my cantaloupes people look at me like I'm a monster, until they try it.