Re: Untasty Food

On Tue, 10 Jul 2001, Sally Caves wrote:

>
> About garum... I, too, wondered if it was related to Garam Masala.  Here
> in the States you can buy it in powdered form.  It seems to consist of
> ground cloves, ground ginger, ground coriander, cinnamon, and something
> else I can't identify.  It's very intense and salty.
>
Not at all - not even remotely. Garam Masala is just a (or any)
mixture of spices. If you're concentious you mix it yourself, just
like Indonesian sambals, or you buy it. Garum is the juice of fermented
fish, preferably small fish, like sardines or very young herring. You
can still buy it, only it's called nam plaa nowadays. (That's because
it's made in Thailand, but I'm quite sure it's the same stuff, even
if the fish differ.) We use it a lot - it lends a lot of depth to most
meat dishes and a certain something to fish dishes.

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.valdyas.org