Did fish sauce in Vietnam come from Ancient Rome via the Silk Road? The similarities between nuoc mam and Roman garum
- There are striking similarities between ancient Roman condiment garum and Asian fish sauces such as Vietnam’s nuoc mam, nam pla in Thailand and Japan’s gyosho
- Food historians are divided on the origins of Southeast Asian fish sauces, with some arguing they took their cue from soy sauce making in ancient China
A wide variety of fish sauces and condiments can be found throughout Asia, adapted to local cooking traditions. According to experts, they are intriguingly similar to an ancient Roman dressing known as garum.
One in particular, Vietnam’s iconic nuoc mam – made with fermented fish, usually anchovies, and salt – bears a resemblance in taste, composition and texture to the garum fish sauce first produced around 100BC, according to food historian Giorgio Franchetti.
He is a scholar of ancient Roman history and the author of the book Dining with the Ancient Romans, which was recently translated into English.
“Vietnam’s nuoc mam can be described as a ‘living fossil’ or ‘living archaeological culinary finding’ that maintains the ancient Roman tradition and flavour,” Franchetti says. “Recent studies have shown that nuoc mam is today the closest existing sauce to the garum of an earlier age.”
Other similar Asian fish sauces include Cambodia’s prahok, the Philippines’ patis, Thailand’s nam pla and Japan’s gyosho, says Franchetti, who notes a Roman connection can also be found in the Indonesian word for salt, “garam”, given that garum was used by the Romans as a substitute for salt.
The garum condiment, hailed by the great Roman gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius and authors such as Pliny, who described it as a “delicious liqueur”, was a strongly flavoured and pricey product made with layers of salt and fish – mainly tuna, salmon, anchovies, sardines, fish blood and innards – left to soak in containers.
