The Rebirth of Garum: Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici (Anchovy Sauce)

This recipe offers a direct bridge to the past thanks to colatura di alici, a legitimate heir to the legendary Roman garum. By incorporating it into a simple spaghetti with garlic and parsley, we are not just cooking a dish; we are rescuing a flavor that has endured for millennia

What was Garum?

In his work Etymologies, Saint Isidore of Seville states:

‘Garum is a liquid sauce made from fish. In ancient times, it was prepared from a fish that the Greeks called gáros; although today an infinite variety of fish is used in its preparation, it nevertheless retains the name of the fish with which it was first made.’
BOOK XX, 3, 19

To prepare garum, layers of fish covered in salt were placed inside vats. A weight was then positioned on top of the full vat. After about three months, a hole was made at the bottom of the vat, and the golden liquid that emerged was the garum.

The highest quality garum allowed no mixtures; it was made exclusively from select species. The famous Garum Sociorum, originating from the area of Carthago Nova (modern-day Cartagena), was considered the most exquisite in the Empire and was produced solely with mackerel.

Practically all the recipes in De re Coquinaria call for garum or liquamen. In this cookbook, they appear to be used as synonyms; however, in reality, liquamen was produced using lower-quality fish.

This ubiquitous sauce was used to season or cook meat, fish, and vegetables; to dress salads; and even to prepare certain desserts. Using it in desserts would seem very strange to us today, but it was a common practice at the time.

How can we evoke this sauce today?

Having said that, it becomes clear that using chopped anchovies or anchovy paste as a substitute for garum can ruin any attempt to recreate ancient Roman recipes. The anchovy paste often recommended as a substitute in various online recipes has absolutely nothing to do with garum.

Nor is it true that garum would smell like rotten fish. Certainly, the smell while the mixture of fish and salt was drying in the sun during the extraction process would not have been very pleasant. However, the final result—while not exactly a mild scent—had absolutely nothing to do with the smell of rotting fish.

In reality, this ubiquitous fermented fish sauce was quite similar to the Asian fish sauces we find today. However, the best option would be to source some Colatura di Alici, a direct heir to garum.

Colatura di Alici: The Rebirth of Garum in Modern Cuisine

What distinguishes Roman Garum from the Colatura of Cetara?

As historian and culinary archaeologist Sally Granger points out in her book The Story of Garum: Roman Fish Sauce in a Modern Context (NC State University Libraries, Published on Jan 21, 2021):

‘Garum, a staple of Ancient Rome, was made by fermenting whole (un-gutted) fish in the sun with salt. However, this celebrated ingredient was transformed by Roman cooks and bakers with honey, herbs, and wines, drawing many parallels today with the luxurious fish sauces used in five-star restaurants.’

Regarding Colatura di Alici, according to Grainger:

‘The fish (the anchovy) is decapitated, deboned, and gutted in a single movement. You pull the head off, draw the spine out, and the guts come with it. The remaining part of the fish is then salted to remove the blood, and that first liquid released by the fish is discarded. Afterwards, it is layered with fresh salt and placed under pressure for a period of up to six months, although sometimes it can be much longer.’

According to Grainger, although Colatura di Alici is perceived as a direct inheritance from Garum, there are fundamental technical differences. By removing the head and the guts of the anchovy, the digestive enzymes are eliminated. Without them, true proteolysis (the breakdown of proteins) does not occur, resulting in a sauce with much lower protein levels than Roman Garum, but with a higher salinity.

The Know-How of Cetara: A Tradition Across Generations

While folk tradition in Cetara attributes the discovery of Colatura to 13th-century medieval monks, for Grainger, the Colatura as we buy it today—in elegant glass bottles—is a relatively modern phenomenon.

However, for me, it is essential not to lose sight of the Amalfi Coast’s perspective on tradition, where entire families have spent generations perfecting the art of Colatura. For the people of Cetara, this condiment is not a ‘modern experiment’ but a living legacy centuries old. This practical knowledge, passed down from parents to children, is what allows us to enjoy a product today with a quality that industrial production simply cannot reach.

And now, let’s taste the colatura in this typical Amalfi Coast spaghetti recipe.