A Sea of Food Flavorings

Across the globe, cultures preserve seafood via drying, salting and fermenting. These products enhance the diet they are rich in protein, B vitamins, glutamic acid and omega-3 fatty acids and serve as gourmet flavoring tools. Seafood stock forms the base for many European and Asian soups, stews and sauces. Dried, salted fish, fish sauce, fish paste, dried shrimp and shrimp paste, and other seafood-based condiments are staple flavorings that liven up meals.

The Greeks and Romans used garum or liquamen, fish sauce extracted from macerated fish and fermented in a mixture of salt water and aromatic herbs, as a gourmet condiment. Today, fish and shrimp pastes grace English afternoon-tea tables as sandwich spreads. To the uninitiated, fish sauce and pastes may have strong, objectionable odors, but after cooking these aromas disappear, giving way to fragrant, delicate notes.

In Japan, China and Southeast Asia, fish cakes (neri-seihin in Japanese) made from fish paste, salt, starch, egg whites and flavorings are boiled, fried, steamed or grilled and served as entrées, or sliced to use as flavorings for fried rice, noodles, vegetables and tofu dishes. In Japan, they come as chikuwa, or kamaboko, eaten with soy sauce and wasabi; satsuma-age, stuffed with burdock, shrimp or squid; and hanpen (pureed and steamed fish cakes), made with grated yam. Fish stock, dashi, forms the basis for soups and cooking sauces.

Fish sauce nam pla in Thailand, patis in Philippines, ngapi in Myanmar and nuoc mam in Vietnam is essential to Southeast Asian cooking. Small, whole fish are fermented in barrels of brine, and the extract is drawn off and matured in the sun before bottling. This pungent, salty fish sauce, combined with hot chiles and spices, zests up dressings, noodles, marinades and sauces and provides an umami effect.

Fermented shrimp pastes, called belacan, trasi, kapi or bagoong, are popular Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai and Filipino flavorings. Adding chiles, lime juice, garlic, lemongrass and shallots creates aromatic condiments that perk up rice and noodle dishes, tofu, yams and vegetables. Indonesian soy sauces, called kecap ikan or kecap manis, contain fermented fish sauce with sugar and spices.

In the Basque region of Spain, bacalao, or salted, dried cod, flavors paellas, soups and sauces. Italian chefs add anchovy to olive oil and garlic as a dip for vegetables, and prepare sauces with salt cod, parsley, capers, mushrooms, vegetables and nuts. The French make anchovy fillets into a salted paste with garlic, olive oil and black pepper as anchoiade. The Dutch marinate anchovies in wine or vinegar with onions and lemon and use it as a condiment, while the Swedes ferment herring to flavor cream sauces.

Caribbean cooks shred bacalao mixed with habaneros, or aji dulce, onions, garlic and tomatoes, and add it to ackee, mashed potatoes, stews, soups, rice and beans, and fritters. Dried, whole shrimp flavor refagados, fish dishes, omelets and rice in Brazils Bahia region.

Susheela Uhl is president of Horizons Consulting Inc., a Mamaroneck, NY-based food-consulting firm, which develops ethnic, fusion and new American products for the U.S. and global markets. Horizons provides market trends, culinary demonstrations and presentations on ethnic foods, spices and seasonings, and technical support. Uhl can be reached via e-mail at [email protected], or by visiting www.SusheelaConsulting.com.