Garum

Garum is a fermented fish sauce once a highly popular condiment in the Asurian Empire. It fell out of favour after the fall of the empire, but has recently become a much enjoyed part of a sailor's diet, being much more flavourful than foods like hardtack and salt pork that are preserved for long travel.

Production

A batch of garum is made from one part salt to eight parts fish - preferably mackerel, but many types of fish will suffice - as well as including any of a wide array of herbs and spices. The fish must be included whole, fresh from the boat - cleaned fish meat will simply putrefy. This mixture must be put in a clay pot or glass jug and left out in the sun for no less than two months, being stirred at least daily.
During production, the mixture will look increasingly unpalatable - the fish slowly breaking down into a thick brown sludge. Despite its appearance, it does not take on much of an odor until the final few days of the process, and never smells bad, just...intense.
Once processing is complete, the resulting liquid must be filtered through several stages to remove the remaining solid debris, which can be ground up and used as fertilizer. The result is called garum: an amber liquid with a strong umami taste and an intense aroma that remains edible for years.

Uses

In the Asurian Empire, garum was most often used as a mother sauce, to be combined with various wines, vinegars, or other liquids to create a variety of dips, sauces, and marinades. These, along with various spiced garum recipes were popular in ancient times, and are growing in popularity in in the present day, particularly in coastal cities.
Aboard ship, however, there is rarely room for such a variety of ingredients. Instead, garum is mixed with shredded vegetables such as cabbage and various root vegetables - this mixture is still called garum, but can be served on a plate on its own, mixed into a stew with salted meat, ground hardtack, and other ingredients.