Dried fish

[M. Porcius Cato]

According to this map of trade routes in the ancient world, dried fish was brought from all over the Mediterranean to Rome, suggesting the Romans actually ate the stuff. Has anyone an ancient dried fish recipe they've actually prepared and sampled? How did it taste?

[Rameses the Great]

I thought the Mediterranean had their own way of making fish. Cooking dried fish is something that is usually found deep in Africa. I can only speak of the Middle East but how we do it is we usually bread the fish and cook it in oil. Perhaps you should check Food Network's homepage.

[docoflove1974]

In the northern parts of the Iberian peninsula (Galicia, Portugal, Asturias, the Basque country...I'm sure the northern coast of France, too), there's some form of salt cod--often called bacalao or some such form. This is also known throughout the Italian peninsula, by the same name...so who's to say that there isn't some ancient connection with this recipe!

 

Edit to add: bacalao is often made so as to preserve the fish; it is often reconstituted (usually in several changes of milk) before used in everything from pasta/potato dishes, fritters, to anything else you can think of! (And it's pretty damned tasty!)

Edited May 29, 2007 by docoflove1974

[Andrew Dalby]

According to this map of trade routes in the ancient world, dried fish was brought from all over the Mediterranean to Rome, suggesting the Romans actually ate the stuff. Has anyone an ancient dried fish recipe they've actually prepared and sampled? How did it taste?

I haven't looked at the map, because it wanted a plugin and I haven't time right now! But essentially the claim isn't true. Romans weren't very interested in dried fish; which, as far as Europe is concerned, is an Atlantic seaboard thing, as Doc rightly says. Long distance Atlantic fishing had not really got under way in Roman times. It's true, though, that more recent Italians have been very, very interested in stoccafisso.

 

Romans were interested in certain kinds of salt/pickled fish (and maybe smoked, but the sources don't describe smoked fish clearly): especially tuna/bonito, mackerel, pilchard/sardine, and grey mullet. The reason for conserving tuna -- and canning it, as we tend to do now -- is that it's available in very large quantities at certain times of year, and is such good food value that you don't want to let it all go. Conserved tuna and other oily fish came to Rome from Sardinia (hence the modern name of sardines), from southern Spain (a trade begun by the Phoenicians/Carthaginians) and no doubt from other shores too.

 

And, as we know so well, they made fish sauce from salted, fermented fish. THAT was brought to Rome from all parts of the Mediterranean and it seems nearly everybody used it. It was almost an essential. Possibly that, or salted/pickled tuna and other oily fish, is what the map is getting at.

[Kosmo]

The greek colony Histria, that was then located in gulf at the southern most mouth of Danube, based her prosperity on exports of dried fish, caught (fresh) in the Danube Delta. The most important markets were the Bosporan kingdom and the greek colonies on the north coast of the Black Sea.

An inscription shows several confirmations given to the city fishing rights in the delta by roman governors of Moesia Inferior the last beeing Labienus Maximus.

The export of dried fish was an important revenue for the city and they protected their fishing rights even with petition to the emperors.

Unfortunetly, the inscription does not tell if it was salted or smoked and gives no recipe about the cooking of the dry fish

[Pertinax]

The fish sauce entry however would hint at a very large scalew trade (no pun intended).

[Ludovicus]

Bacala` is/was an Italian staple, at least in the south of the country where my people are from. As far as I know, it's always salted cod. It's especially popular around the Xmas holidays. At my family store we would sell tons of it, both with the bone and without. It's a heavy and hard. Once it's gone thru many rinses it can be fried in a batter and even used to make a fish salad. The Puerto Ricans shred it in a batter dish called "bacalaito."

 

Did the Romans use cod? Was it known to them?

[Pertinax]

This is tricky . as far as I was aware the recorded history of salted codfish (or codling which is the most flavoursome lifestage) is from circa 500CE amongsrt the Basques and some Nordic peoples. AD any clues?

[M. Porcius Cato]

The one thing that seemed, ah, fishy about the notion that Roman ate dried fish is that they were normally such devotees for really, really fresh fish. That, at least, was my understanding of the explanation for Tiberius' dining room on top of a fish pond.

[Pertinax]

The one thing that seemed, ah, fishy about the notion that Roman ate dried fish is that they were normally such devotees for really, really fresh fish. That, at least, was my understanding of the explanation for Tiberius' dining room on top of a fish pond.

Indeed, the last word in luxury was the ability to cultivate sea fish in impounded ponds. Remember Lucullus?

 

"quitted and abandoned public affairs, either because he saw that they were already beyond proper control and diseased, or, as some say, because he had his fill of glory, and felt that the unfortunate issue of his many struggles and toils entitled him to fall back upon a life of ease and luxury...[for] in the life of Lucullus, as in an ancient comedy, one reads in the first part of political measures and military commands, and in the latter part of drinking bouts, and banquets, and what might pass for revel-routs, and torch-races, and all manner of frivolity" He it was who was noted for the most elaborate of fishponds. I do recall that in one of the food threads I mentioned the Patrician who wrote an ode to his Moray eel upon its death, whilst having (in life) gifted it captivating earrings...

 

aah I think this is some of it..

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showto...mp;hl=moray+eel

[Andrew Dalby]

This is tricky . as far as I was aware the recorded history of salted codfish (or codling which is the most flavoursome lifestage) is from circa 500CE amongsrt the Basques and some Nordic peoples. AD any clues?

I agree with that. The true cod is not a Mediterranean fish, and the Romans were never that interested in fishing in outer oceans.

 

Now then, was the attraction of unlimited codfish (rather than the desire to pillage, rape and conquer) the reason for the Vikings' westward voyages? And when did the Basques discover Canada? I think there's a Ph.D. in this for somebody.

[caldrail]

The one thing that seemed, ah, fishy about the notion that Roman ate dried fish is that they were normally such devotees for really, really fresh fish. That, at least, was my understanding of the explanation for Tiberius' dining room on top of a fish pond.

The problem the romans had in distributing fish throughout the empire was that it went off very quickly, as they had no means to preserve fresh fish. True, fish could be caught locally, but produce from rivers cannot compete with the potential of fishing from coastal waters. So, whilst they may have savoured fresh fish, for many the only way to secure enough was to have it supplied as dried instead. At least thats my understanding.

[docoflove1974]

I just had to peruse my dictionary (looking for certain neuter nouns...don't ask), and found this one interesting:

 

muriaticum--'a pickled fish'

 

So the Romans did preserve their fish, too, I guess! Just that drying it may not have been the way to go. Besides, I know that pickling is a long-practiced way of preserving various foodstuffs (I mostly think of vegetables and fruit, but brining meat is about the same thing), and with all the wine around, vinegar would be a common pantry staple. Right?

[Andrew Dalby]

I just had to peruse my dictionary (looking for certain neuter nouns...don't ask), and found this one interesting:

 

muriaticum--'a pickled fish'

 

So the Romans did preserve their fish, too, I guess! Just that drying it may not have been the way to go. Besides, I know that pickling is a long-practiced way of preserving various foodstuffs (I mostly think of vegetables and fruit, but brining meat is about the same thing), and with all the wine around, vinegar would be a common pantry staple. Right?

 

All too common. Sometimes you get vinegar when you didn't want it!

 

Yes, pickling was the usual way -- sometimes in brine (salt water), sometimes in vinegar. "Muria" actually means brine, or a fishy sauce based on brine; so your muriaticum might taste salty rather than vinegary.

[Ludovicus]

I just had to peruse my dictionary (looking for certain neuter nouns...don't ask), and found this one interesting:

 

muriaticum--'a pickled fish'

 

So the Romans did preserve their fish, too, I guess! Just that drying it may not have been the way to go. Besides, I know that pickling is a long-practiced way of preserving various foodstuffs (I mostly think of vegetables and fruit, but brining meat is about the same thing), and with all the wine around, vinegar would be a common pantry staple. Right?

 

All too common. Sometimes you get vinegar when you didn't want it!

 

Yes, pickling was the usual way -- sometimes in brine (salt water), sometimes in vinegar. "Muria" actually means brine, or a fishy sauce based on brine; so your muriaticum might taste salty rather than vinegary.

 

 

Present-day Italians preserve meat in olive oil, too. My dad will dry sausage in the attic, in the winter, and then preserve the cut pieces in olive oil.

It works. So in addition, salting, and pickling, we have "olive oiling."