Fermented fish sauce

Cuisines around the world have used various forms of fermented fish sauce as a condiment or ingredient, since ancient times. The details of preparation can be unpalatable to some, but they basically involve fermenting seafood in salt, and obtaining distinctively flavored extracts. While they are primarily flavorings, they also can have a high protein, as well as sodium, concentration. Fermented fish products historically developed as a result of the limitations of transportation and an absence of refrigeration. Because of poor roads and slow transportation speeds, the provision of fresh fish to potential inland customers as well as storage was inhibited, and this encouraged fermentation as a preservation technique.

While many think of this as an Asian flavoring, garum was a basic element of cooking in the Roman Empire, and the very British Worcestershire sauce has fermented anchovies as one of its core components, although tamarind is another part of its distinct taste. The smell of garum during the process of fermentation was said to be so foul that Roman citizens were actually outlawed from making it in their own homes. Roman production occurred on an industrial scale with areas of vats set aside near fishing ports throughout their empire, for the salting and fermentation process, and the sauce transported to markets in sealed barrels. Top quality garum was typically made from the viscera and blood of mackerel. Second grade was muria, made from tuna fish, and the third, 'poor mans' liquamen was made from any other fish available. According to the Roman historian, Pliny, the garum made in Barcino (Barcelona) was considered the best money could buy. He even gave his name to it, Pliny Garum. Other fish sauces, such as botarque and ostardies, were produced in Italy and Greece in the 18th and 19th centuries. Another sauce reported to be produced in ancient Greece was aimeteon, which was made from Tunny viscera and blood.

Southeast Asian kitchens and tables, however, are bare without fish sauce. The basic Vietnamese cuisine term is nuoc mam, but that is somewhat like saying "wine" in France; there are many distinctive preparations, and indeed some premium forms that are labeled to their place of origin. In Thai cuisine, the term is nam pla, also called "fish soy." The Burmese version is ngan-pya-ye and the most common Filipino name is batis.

Not strictly fish, but some related preparations, these more from Asia, are sauces, pastes, or dried forms of fermented shrimp. Oyster sauce is a Chinese ingredient made from fermented shellfish, and Korean kimchi recipes often include oysters or shrimp: fresh, fermented, or dried.

Some American veterans of the Vietnam War brought back unpleasant memories, perhaps embellished with memories and storytelling, of reeking nuoc mam. Other Americans, however, routinely use it and find it has only a slight smell, but potent flavoring properties different from fermented soy.

Many Tahitians enjoy fafaru, a "piquant condiment" employed as a dipping sauce. Resembling clear water, it is made by placing crushed freshwater shrimp heads into a coconut gourd filled with fresh seawater, along with, perhaps, pieces of tuna fish; the coconut is then hung in the sunlight for a few days, after which the fafaru is strained and bottled. The taste is said to be surprisingly mild and agreeable, but the odor is horrendous. At many large Tahitian feasts a separate table, situated well-downwind from the other guests, is provided for those who wish dip their food into the fafaru.