Liquamen (anchient Roman Nuoc Mam)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

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 bbq-digest V4
#066  Recipe by: Canonical From Bythynia  From: Tom Solomon
<[email protected]>  Date: Sat, 30 Nov 1996 16:12:39 -0800 (PST)

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