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Olivers
 
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Default Garum -- anyone know a good substitute?

bogus address muttered....

>
>> Sure, , , ,Try Worchestershire sauce, , ,
>> It is a direct dirivitive of Garum.

>
> No such thing.
>
> No such place.


O, ye of little perspectif...

Au contraire. Messrs Lea & Perrins (or their corporate masters) produce
vast tank cars full of L&P "Original Worcestershire Sauce" for we benighted
'Merkins, and claim to have produced the only original version since 1835.

>
> There is a Worcestershire but there's no sauce named after it, despite
> what a lot of Americans say.
>
> There is a "Worcester sauce" (named after the town, not the county)
> but it's got a lot more than garum in it.


We have more "Worcesters" than of ever the Scuppered H'aislers or the puir
near-sighted Scots could have ever dreamed, even resorting to naming a
cruiser and class of ships after the Massachusetts version thereof. We
have no Worcestershire except the sauce itself, produced in a half dozen
brandnames, none as good as L&P, and even once in dry form, "David Wade's
Worscetershire Powder", actually quite good as a seasoning for prime
rib(standing rib) roast.

The best brands contain two key ingredients....anchovies, the heritage of
the original based on a SEAsian fish sauce, nam pla or whatever, and
tamarind pulp, a fruit flavoring of the Indian subcontinent and of all
places, Mexico, another hint that the Manilla Galleon carried more than
gold and sailed in two directions.

I surmise that the sauce as we know it represents a British recipe and
commercial bottling to imitate or compare with a condiment(s) familiar to
locals who had served in India/SEAsia.

Worcestershire Sauce remains a popular US table condiment and more
important and necessary ingredient in the Cajun pantry, required for
several notable Cajun recipes. Why? That's a good question, for there's
no historical basis for its use....

TMO