Modern Recreation of Garum
“Rotted fish guts at luxury price” were guaranteed presence at the Empire tables. Team led by Portuguesa Paula Campos, from the University of Porto, confirmed the presence of Sardinha – and not only.
It was with ancient DNA that an unprecedented investigation, conducted by a researcher from the University of Porto, finally revealed the secrets of the favorite sauce of the ancient Romans.
The investigation took place in an old fish salting unit in northwestern Spain, dating from the third century DC, and found that fish species were used to make the tall (or drizzle), famous fermented fish sauce that was guaranteed presence at the tables of the Roman Empire.
Condiment, loved by its salty flavor and umami – although figures like the seneca philosopher described it as “rotten fish guts at luxury price” – could be consumed in liquid form (garum or liquamen) or as solid paste (allec), being produced through the Fermentation of crushed fish – A process that hinders the visual identification of the species used.
Due to the fragmented and aged state of the bones analyzed by the team, as well as the acid conditions in which they were preserved, extracting viable DNA was a great challenge for Paula Camposfrom the University of Porto (UP) and to the team led by itself.
But the team even managed to sequence bone samples and cross data with complete genomes of modern fish, confirming the presence of European sardine In the Roman productions of Garum, according to the study published July 2.
The discovery is in line with previous studies that, by direct observation, had already identified sardines in Garum production units. Other Roman factories of this condiment revealed traces of species such as Lift, Faneca, mackerel and anchovy.
The next step of the investigation will be to broaden the analysis to other species and places of Garum production spread throughout the former empire, with the aim of realizing if the ingredients used were consistent in different regions.
