Also the origin of Worcestershire sauce puzzles me.
Let's barrel up some fish sauce, realize it tastes like shit, forget about it for years in a cellar, find it, open it, and then taste it.
Who does this?
If I leave something in the fridge for too long my first reaction isn't "oh, let's see if I've discovered some new culinary staple" and open it.
Sheesh!
@impiaaa I understand this, but I still wonder who the first one was to try this and realize it was good.
About the only thing I can come up with is a Mitchell and Webb-like sketch of two Egyptians in a desert going "I double-dog dare you to eat that moldy milk".
@craigmaloney Probably a lot of fermented food started that way, including Roman Garum, other fish sauces, vinegar/alcohol, pickles...?
@cwebber right, but again, who was the person who took the dare from the other person saying "no, you try it".
That's what I want to know. 😁
@craigmaloney this seems reasonable: chemists
https://www.thespruce.com/worcestershire-sauce-history-1807686
@craigmaloney I feel exactly the same way about Marmite. #ItsTheDevil
@ChrisWere I love Worcestershire sauce though, but it's origin horrifies me.
@craigmaloney Who does this? The ancient Romans did. :-)
Fish Sauce: An Ancient Roman Condiment Rises Again.
"...the Roman version was made by layering fish and salt until it ferments. There are versions made with whole fish, and some with just the blood and guts. "
Yum, yum!
So there you go, @craigmaloney . I hunted that up just for you.
@craigmaloney Yum, umami.
@craigmaloney to be fair, there are a *lot* of different foods that require aging. Someone had to have tried every technique on everything.