Recipe - Liquamen (Anchient Roman Nuoc Mam)

Sprats, anchovies, or
mackerel
2 pt Salt per peck of fish
2 pt Old wine per pint of fish,
optional

It is best to take large or small sprats, or, failing that, take anchovies,
or horse mackerel, or mackerel, make a mixture of all, and put into a
baking trough. Take two pints of salt per peck of fish and mix well so that
fish are impregnated with salt. Leave it for one night, and then put in an
earthenware vessel which you place, open, in the sun for two or three
months, stirring with a stick at intervals, then take it, cover it with a
lid, and store away. Some people add old wine, two pints per pint of fish
[to the fish at the beginning of the fermentation process]. Drain the
resultant sauce and store until use.

[Modern day nuoc mam is made by putting a layer of fish in a vat, adding a
layer of salt, and repeating the process until the vat is full. After a few
days the liquid is drained off from below and tipped back onto the top of
the heap; this process is repeated several times. Finally, a wicker lid is
placed on the vat and weighted down, and the fish are left to ferment and
mature for several months. The resultant sauce is then drained and bottled
as nuoc mam].

It can also be made from most any type of shellfish. If fish are smoked
prior to salting, it should be a very light smoke so as not to dry the fish
out or otherwise impede the fermentation process.
Posted to bbqdigest V4 #066

Recipe by: Canonical From Bythynia

From: Tom Solomon bigheat@earthlink.net

Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 16:12:39 0800 (PST)