GIFT IDEA: Smoked Mushroom Garum For The Serious Cook
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Noma’s Smoked Mushroom Garum was the first product for home cooks from Noma Projects, a food lab that was opened last year by the innovative, 3-Michelin-star Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. Introduced earlier this year in the U.S., it quickly sold out. The latest batch is on the verge of selling out, so see if this wonderful condiment is a gift for anyone on your list. Smoked Mushroom Garum is a vegan version of garum*, the fermented Roman fish sauce that’s been used for thousands of years as a key condiment and seasoning. As ancient Rome produced garum, so did other cultures rely on fish sauce. There are several different Asian fish sauces, of which Thai fish sauce, nam pla phrik, Vietnamese fish sauce, nuoc nam, are just two. Check out these different types of fish sauce, all made from fermented fish. Fish sauce—and Noma’s vegan version of it—is an umami food. (What’s umami?) A splash of fish sauce in cooking, or a few spoonfuls over a cooked dish, makes a big difference in flavor. Any serious cook would love a bottle. If you think you’ve never had fish sauce, how about Worcestershire sauce? Delicious, isn’t it? Worcestershire is a British variation of Asian fish sauce that contains anchovies (the history of Worcestershire sauce). Noma Project food scientists turned to koji† and mushrooms instead of fermented fish to create their umami-rich, vegan Smoked Mushroom Garum. In addition to smoke and mushroom flavors, it stands out as not as intensely salty as typical fish sauces. But it does the trick! Do you know someone who would appreciate having a bottle to play with? There are recipes on the website, as well as many recipes to be found using garum. Here’s a collection for starters. Don’t delay, it’s selling out again. Head to NomaProjects.com. |
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________________ *Garum is derived from gáron, the name of the fish whose intestines were originally used to make the sauce. †Koji is cooked rice and/or soybeans that have been inoculated with a fermentation culture, Aspergillus oryzae, also known as kōji mold although it’s a naturally-occurring fungus. It’s used in the making of alcoholic beverages such as saké and shōchū, and to ferment the soybeans used in making soy sauce.
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