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> Fish sauce is very simple I'm not so sure. Rotten fish is extremely gross. The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious. Having sa

> Fish sauce is very simple I'm not so sure. Rotten fish is extremely gross. The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious. Having said that, it is definitely obvious as a byproduct of fish preservation. If people start producing dried salted fish, someone is bound to notice that the juice is actually tasty. I wonder how commonly available sea salt was in East Asia compared to the Mediterranean. It is saltier and has a much drier climate and thus producing lots of salt is easier.

pampa 6y ago
So is smelly or mouldy french cheese. I think a lot of fermented products are basically preservation techniques gone sideways. Smells funny, looks funny but doesn't make you sick when you eat it, you don't just throw food away when it is scarce. And after some time you develop a taste for it.
- dan_hawkins 6y ago
  > I think a lot of fermented products are basically preservation techniques gone sideways. My theory also :) Given historical harsh winters in Europe you're gonna eat whatever there is in the middle of a winter, spoiled or not. Turned out some of that spoiled stuff is quite good.
coldtea 6y ago
>I'm not so sure. Rotten fish is extremely gross. The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious. It is easily discoverable, since people used salt to preserve fish (and other food) all the time in those times...
- himinlomax 6y ago
  You should've read my next sentence.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - coldtea 6y ago
    Had read it, you implied that it might not have been "commonly available" in Asia, which makes no sense. So I noted that people do it all the time (and don't mean "romans only").
    - himinlomax 6y ago
      I didn't IMPLY, I WONDERED. Explicitly, too. Read the next few sentences. I mean it's not that fucking long.
lucideer 6y ago
> The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious I find it somewhat astounding when people equate "it's not entirely obvious (to me / a modern individual) to "it's unlikely to be discoverable by one or more of millions of individuals throughout past generations". Not only is this something millions of people had lifetimes to potentially discover, working with food & preservation would've been necessarily a much more fundamental part of most people's daily lives in the past than it is now.

pampa 6y ago

So is smelly or mouldy french cheese. I think a lot of fermented products are basically preservation techniques gone sideways. Smells funny, looks funny but doesn't make you sick when you eat it, you don't just throw food away when it is scarce. And after some time you develop a taste for it.

dan_hawkins 6y ago
> I think a lot of fermented products are basically preservation techniques gone sideways. My theory also :) Given historical harsh winters in Europe you're gonna eat whatever there is in the middle of a winter, spoiled or not. Turned out some of that spoiled stuff is quite good.

coldtea 6y ago

>I'm not so sure. Rotten fish is extremely gross. The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious. It is easily discoverable, since people used salt to preserve fish (and other food) all the time in those times...

himinlomax 6y ago
You should've read my next sentence.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- coldtea 6y ago
  Had read it, you implied that it might not have been "commonly available" in Asia, which makes no sense. So I noted that people do it all the time (and don't mean "romans only").
  - himinlomax 6y ago
    I didn't IMPLY, I WONDERED. Explicitly, too. Read the next few sentences. I mean it's not that fucking long.

lucideer 6y ago

> The notion that it's not when fermented in salt is not entirely obvious I find it somewhat astounding when people equate "it's not entirely obvious (to me / a modern individual) to "it's unlikely to be discoverable by one or more of millions of individuals throughout past generations". Not only is this something millions of people had lifetimes to potentially discover, working with food & preservation would've been necessarily a much more fundamental part of most people's daily lives in the past than it is now.