Fish sauce (liquamen, garum)
A sauce made from fish or fish innards steeped in salt, the most common seasoning in the Roman cookbook called Apicius. Liquamen and garum named the same or closely related sauces.
Roman recipes
Apicius, De re coquinaria, books 1, 4, 5 and 7, in the edition of C. Giarratano and F. Vollmer (Leipzig, 1922) · Compiled about 300–500 from older recipes; the surviving manuscripts were copied in the 800s
Moretaria: mentam, rutam, coriandrum, feniculum, omnia viridia, ligusticum, piper, mel, liquamen. si opus fuerit, acetum addes.
Herb sauce: Mint, rue, coriander, and fennel, all fresh; lovage, pepper, honey, and fish sauce. If needed, add vinegar.
Patinam de rosis: accipies rosas et exfoliabis: album tolles, mittes in mortarium, suffundes liquamen, fricabis. postea mittes liquaminis cyathum unum semis, et sucum per colum colabis. accipies cerebella IV, enervabis et teres piperis scripulos VIII. suffundes ex suco, fricabis. postea ova VIII frangis, <mittis> vini cyathum unum semis et passi cyathum unum, olei modicum. postea patinam perunges et eam impones cineri calido, et sic impensam supra scriptam mittes. cum cocta fuerit in thermospodio, piperis pulverem super asperges et inferes.
A patina of roses: Take roses and pull off the petals. Cut off the white bases, put the petals in a mortar, pour on fish sauce, and grind them. Then add one and a half cyathi of fish sauce, and strain the juice. Take four brains, remove the sinews, and grind them with eight scruples of pepper. Pour on some of the rose juice and grind again. Then break eight eggs and add one and a half cyathi of wine, one cyathus of raisin wine, and a little oil. Grease a pan, set it on hot ashes, and pour in the mixture described above. When it has cooked over the hot ashes, sprinkle it with ground pepper and serve.
Patina de piris: pira elixa et purgata e medio teres cum pipere, cumino, melle, passo, liquamine, oleo modico. ovis missis patinam facies, piper super asparges et inferes.
A patina of pears: Boil some pears and take out their cores. Grind them with pepper, cumin, honey, raisin wine, fish sauce, and a little oil. Add eggs and make a patina. Sprinkle pepper on top and serve.
Pisam coques. cum despumaverit, porrum, coriandrum et cuminum supra mittis. teres piper, ligusticum, [careum hoc est caravita] careum, anethum, ocimum viride, suffundis liquamen, vino et liquamine temperabis, facies ut ferveat. cum ferbuerit, agitabis. si quid defuerit, mittis et inferes.
Peas: Cook the peas. When the foam has been skimmed off, put leek, coriander, and cumin on top. Grind pepper, lovage, caraway, dill, and fresh basil; pour on fish sauce, and season it with wine and fish sauce. Bring it to a boil. When it boils, stir it. If anything is missing, add it, and serve.
In ovis hapalis: piper, ligusticum, nucleos infusos. suffundes mel, acetum: liquamine temperabis.
For soft-boiled eggs: Pepper, lovage, and soaked pine nuts. Pour on honey and vinegar, and season with fish sauce.