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An accompanying sauce used to flavor vegetable, meat and fish dishes: garum is a delicious product with ancient origins. The Romans loved it and employed it in many preparations, but its production required complex processing.
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From Maratea, garum traveled directly to the tables of Rome, and the importance of this fish-based sauce lingers to this day, so much so that it has been recognized as a traditional food product of the Lucanian municipality.
How is garum obtained? and what has been Maratea’s role in the production of this sauce in the past?
Salsa garum: a leap into the past
Garum was obtained through the fermentation in brine of so-called “poor” fish, with the addition of various spices. The resulting liquid sauce, with an intense taste and smell, was then used to season dishes.
As mentioned, garum was consumed mainly by the ancient Romans, who had known it in turn from the Greeks. The term garum, in fact, is probably derived from the Greek word “garon” (γάρον); it should be specified, however, that its origins do not date back to Ancient Greece but are Middle Eastern. The Babylonians were actually preparing it as early as the 18th century BC.
Latin literature is full of references to garum sauce: from the gastronome expert Apicius, author of the ten-book treatise De re coquinaria, containing nearly 500 recipes, to Pliny the Elder with his Naturalis Historia. In the last work, for example, the versatility of garum is mentioned, as well as its many beneficial and healing properties.
In fact, this sauce was believed to possess additional disinfectant and anti-inflammatory properties alongside its rich nutritional value. Fish garum, rich in protein, was also used, therefore, medicinally: it was an effective remedy against dysentery, to treat sunburn and inflammation of the mouth and ears, and even to disinfect dog and crocodile bites!
The recipe of the ancient Romans
According to the traditional recipe handed down from classical sources, garum needed a large container within which to arrange a precise layering. A layer of various kinds of herbs (mint, cilantro, oregano, fennel, chili pepper, etc.) was arranged on the bottom, overlaid with a row of fish, such as mackerel, sardines and anchovies, which had not been gutted. The last layer consisted of abundant coarse sea salt, which was essential for macerating the fish and counteracting its putrefaction process.
All layers were repeated until the vessel was full. The mixture was then exposed to the sun for several days and stirred for the next several days. A liquid, the actual garum, was thus obtained through a filtration of the mixture that took place in several stages. The more solid, and less valuable part, on the other hand, was called “allec.”
The types of garum were many, some very expensive, and it was, likewise, possible to obtain variations by adding oil, water or wine. In addition, the fish sauce in question had a long shelf life, so it was easily traded throughout the Mediterranean.
Today garum is still a popular and consumed product, although its preparation has undergone some variations. Some of them consist of gutting the fish, from which the head is also removed, and the practice of pressing exerted on the vessel, which is closed, and from which the amber liquid gradually emerges.
The garum of Maratea
In 2016, in Maratea, garum sauce gained recognition as a traditional food product (PAT), adding to the list of typical products of Basilicata. But why is garum specifically linked to Maratea?
Well, in the past Maratea was one of the main places of production. The fish-based condiment was prepared, in late Hellenistic and late Roman times, mainly in southern Italy, but also in Spain, Dalmatia, and North Africa. The Lucanian city, because of its strategic geographic location on the Tyrrhenian Sea was an excellent fishing site; from there ships sailed to Rome to trade the product.
Testifying to the centrality of Maratea in the preparation of garum are numerous artifacts. In the seabed of theisland of Santo Janni, opposite the Lucanian coast of Maratea, Roman-era earthenware vessels used for the preparation of the sauce, as well as amphorae used for its transport by sea, have been found. Today it is possible to view the artifacts at the underwater archaeology exhibition in Maratea’s Palazzo De Lieto.
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