Matiz Flor de Garum – Premium Spanish Fish Sauce – 100ml

Saw this item mentioned in a book called, “Tasting History” and was intrigued. Had to try it! Love the packaging!

Really delicious, I like adding a tablespoon to the marinara sauce for my homemade pizza topping.

My only criticism is the ridiculously shaped, tall slender bottle, which has a tendency to want to fall over at the slightest nudge/impact, due to the distorted and high center of gravity. I have to wedge it between other items in the fridge (after opening), to keep it propped up. If I store it in the rack of the refrigerator door, unsupported, it will fall over simply from the door movement/swinging.

Delicious, though

Very unique and quite uhh…different flavor wise. I can’t quite compare it to anchovy as it’s got its own flavor palette but somewhat along the same lines. I would say anchovy paste is a bit more savory while this is more “colorful”.

I am familiar with the historical Garum, although I’ve never tried it. I can’t speak for the authenticity of this one, but the label does say they did a lot of research based on the Pompeiian ruins to get it right.

I can say that it tastes very good. I would describe the taste as a sort of fishy soy sauce. If you’ve ever had a nice anchovy pasta, it has the same sort of flavor, but with a less pronounced fish flavor, and a stronger saltiness. Similar to soy sauce, you can pretty much use it as you would use salt. It is pretty salty. Even though the bottle suggests a serving size of 14g, about half that is already sufficient to make one meal fairly salty. Unlike salt, it also imparts a delicious umami characteristic to the dish. And of course, a slight hint of fishiness.

It has a fairly strong fish odor, doesn’t bother me, but my wife, who dislikes all fish, is very bothered by it. Through long experience, I have discovered that whenever my wife complains about the stinkiness of a fish, it will usually be very delicious. This sauce is no exception. However, because the bottle is just a bottle with a stopper, you have to be a little bit careful when pouring so you don’t pour too much or get it dripping down the side of the bottle onto the table. I think it would definitely help if the company improved the bottle design to make it easier to pour.

It is somewhat pricey at $32, but you do get a good amount of the sauce. (It was 100ml and I was surprised to find that the bottle was much bigger than pictured.) I suppose, given that it’s a niche product, and imported from Spain if the label is to be believed, this isn’t a wholly unreasonable price. But I wish it was cheaper so I could buy even more. It has changed my life.

I’m still experimenting. I’m by no means a trained cook but I can do a few things here and there. So far I’ve used Garum on Collared Greens, Hamburgers, Steak, and chicken. I think it doesn’t really work too well with chicken. Though that may be down to personal taste. It works shockingly well with Hamburgers and Collared Greens. The jury’s still out on steak. It’ll work but I need to pick away at it some more. I’m not quite doing right yet, I think. Generally, I’ll add a tablespoon to start and if it needs more I’ll do so using about a teaspoon’s worth. When it first starts to boil it’s… strong. But quickly enough it actually does smell quite good. just be prepared for that initial blast of “Oh God, Why did I do this!” takes about eight to ten seconds to get past that point.