This video from Tasting History is one of the neater things I've seen on the internet this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICZww0DtQKk It's remarkable to see a literal jug of rotting fish turn into a clear and golden condiment that both looks and apparently is quite appetising. Often popular histories of Rome like to emphasise how weird and repulsive Romans were for liking this stuff with all their meals. But actually I think this video demonstrates that it wasn't weird at all - not really any weirder than the ubiquity of soy sauce in Asian food, or Worcestershire sauce in British cooking. The only thing that gives me pause is the bit at the end where he has no luck sieving it and instead has to strain it through muslin. I wonder how the Romans actually achieved this - it seems implausible that you could achieve such good filtration with woven baskets, as is suggested. Any thoughts?
Does it taste any different than nuoc-mam?