Garum factory in Askhkelon

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> https://www [.] timesofisrael [.] com/factory-for-romans-favorite-funky-f=
ish-sauce-discovered-near-ashkelon/
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
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> Factory for Romans=E2=80=99 favorite funky fish sauce discovered near Ash=
kelon
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> Although a staple of the Roman Empire, very few garum production sites
> or cetariae have been found in the Eastern Mediterranean
> By AMANDA BORSCHEL-DAN
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> A small 1st century factory that produced fermented fish sauce =E2=80=94
> arguably the most desirable foodstuff of the Roman era =E2=80=94 was rece=
ntly
> uncovered during excavations near the southern coastal Israeli city of
> Ashkelon. It is one of the only identified industrial sites for
> production of the ubiquitous odorous sauce that has been found in the
> Eastern Mediterranean.
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> =E2=80=9CWe have something really unusual here,=E2=80=9D Israel Antiquiti=
es Authority
> archaeologist Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini told The Times of Israel on
> Monday when the find was announced.
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> While the idea of fermented fish sauce or garum may not spark
> salivation in modern palates, the slimy stuff was considered one of
> the most delicious flavors of the Roman Empire. According to
> Erickson-Gini, the precious goop added both salty and savory flavors
> to food and was used in the vast majority of recipes known from the
> era.
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> =E2=80=9CI think of it as a condiment, but it went well beyond that,=E2=
=80=9D
> Erickson-Gini said. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s hard for us to imagine. It was =
far more
> common than ketchup.=E2=80=9D
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> At the 2,000-year-old site, located two kilometers (a mile and a
> quarter) northwest of the city of Ashkelon, Erickson-Gini=E2=80=99s team
> uncovered several installations that, when taken together, left the
> archaeologist with little doubt that she was looking at a rare Holy
> Land garum production center, or cetaria, she said. Though there are
> few examples in the eastern Mediterranean, she said that in the
> Iberian Peninsula, specifically Malaga, there are several
> installations that mirror what she has uncovered in Ashkelon.
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> The Byzantine-era kilns that produced wine jars at the Ashkelon site.
> (Asaf Peretz, Israel Antiquities Authority)
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> The Ashkelon site was excavated ahead of the construction of an
> Eco-Sport Park. Local pupils and youth aided in the excavation, which
> was underwritten by the Municipality of Ashkelon and the Ashkelon
> Economic Co.
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> In addition to evidence of fish pools, the team uncovered giant
> plastered vats, jars used for storing liquid, and what appears to be a
> large receptacle to hold the strained goopy substance.
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> While fish pools have been found elsewhere in the region, there is
> only one other identified location in Israel that may possibly have
> produced the garum, at Dor, said Erickson-Gini. According to what has
> so far been excavated, the Ashkelon site was not a major factory, and
> was possibly largely for local use.
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> The paucity of production sites had always surprised and puzzled the
> archaeologist, she said. Throughout the Empire, the sauce graced the
> tables of the Roman world=E2=80=99s rich and famous, as well as the troug=
hs of
> commoners.
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> =E2=80=9CWhat interests me is the fact that this product was very, very
> popular in the Roman and Byzantine period. As popular as it was, you=E2=
=80=99d
> expect to find a lot of installations. I=E2=80=99m shocked we haven=E2=80=
=99t found
> more of them in excavations,=E2=80=9D she said.
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> Roman historian Pliny the Elder mentions the sauce throughout his
> =E2=80=9CNatural History,=E2=80=9D both as a foodstuff and as medicine. A=
ccording to a
> recent National Geographic article on garum, Pliny =E2=80=9Cextols garum =
as a
> cure for dysentery and an effective treatment for dog bites. Pliny
> also recommended it for earaches, and believed that consuming African
> snails marinated in garum would ward off stomach troubles.=E2=80=9D
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> The National Geographic article states that the sauce was considered
> so essential to the Roman diet =E2=80=9Cthat a huge network of trade rout=
es
> grew up to move the prized relish from fishery to plate. Like many
> delicacies today, the finest garum could sell for astronomical sums.=E2=
=80=9D
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> Even in the storerooms of 1st century BCE King Herod=E2=80=99s isolated M=
asada
> palace, a rare labeled amphorae of garum was found that was possibly
> imported from Andalusia.
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> The secret=E2=80=99s in the sauce
> The production of the malodorous sauce must have been a
> stomach-roiling business. In later periods, due to its powerful reek,
> laws were legislated that the prized fermented fish =E2=80=9Cketchup=E2=
=80=9D must be
> produced outside of urban centers.
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> To accomplish its pungent putrefaction, the craftsman would place
> whole small fish such as sardines or anchovies, or chopped up larger
> fish such as tuna or mackerel, at the base of a jar and pour on top of
> it spices and salt, followed by another fish layer, etc. According to
> Erickson-Gini, the recipe=E2=80=99s ratio called for five parts fish to o=
ne
> part salt.
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> A lively video, =E2=80=9CGarum, Rome=E2=80=99s Favorite Condiment (Ancien=
t Cooking),=E2=80=9D
> on the Invicta History YouTube channel, said the concoction inside a
> closed jar would bake in the hot Mediterranean sun for a week as the
> fish deteriorated, but was saved from rot by the salt. It was then
> opened and stirred for another 20 days or more (Erickson-Gini
> suggested up to three months).
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> The resultant =E2=80=9Cpuree of fish goop=E2=80=9D was strained through a=
 basket, and
> the strained liquid is the garum. Other, more solid leftovers could be
> made into a different sauce or lesser-regarded fish paste called
> allec.
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> There are several types of garum, and even a strictly kosher version
> called garum castimonarium that was guaranteed to be made from kosher
> fish, not shellfish.
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> Foodie fashion fades
> The height of the garum fad was circa the 2nd century CE, but its use
> is recorded even much later.
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> According to an IAA press release, the Ashkelon production site was
> abandoned and industry in the area turned to viticulture.
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> Erickson-Gini said that even during the time of the garum production,
> there is evidence of wine presses and storage jars located only meters
> away. Later, circa 5th century in the Byzantine period a thriving
> monastic community produced wine.
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> Although there are scant artifacts from the central elaborately
> decorated church, three winepresses were built nearby, as well as a
> large kiln complex that would have produced jars to export the wine
> all over the Byzantine Empire. =E2=80=9CJars were found as far as England=
 and
> Germany and Yemen,=E2=80=9D said Erickson-Gini.
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> Later, the site was abandoned in circa the 7th century after the
> Islamic conquest. According to Erickson-Gini and evidence she found in
> refuse pits containing the bones of large pack animals, =E2=80=9Cnomadic
> families, probably residing in tents, dismantled the structures and
> sold the different parts for building material elsewhere.=E2=80=9D