This fishy concoction has been enjoyed all the way back to the times of ancient Rome and Greece. You take the flesh, and also the bones or guts of fish such as sea bream, sea bass, mackerel or sardines, put the lot into a big container, and fill it with salt. Then, wait for fermentation to take place.

You can already imagine the smell that must emanate from this concoction – it’s enough to make you wince. Yet this mixture was a must in the culinary repertoire of the Greeks and Romans. In fact, in Latin, “garum” means “sauce” or “juice”.

This fermented paste is today being used by a growing number of chefs seeking to enhance the taste of their dishes by adding a touch of the fifth flavour known as umami. Used like salt by the Romans, garum is indeed characterised by its pungent, long-lasting and highly engulfing flavour.

In the realm of fermented foods – like kombucha, kefir or kimchi – currently making the culinary headlines, garum is the latest in a line of trendy recipes.

To wit: a veggie version developed by the chef René Redzepi – of the world’s best restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen – has been the talk of the town for a while, with even media such as the “New York Times” reporting on Redzepi’s concoction made out of mushrooms and the Japanese ingredient koji instead of fermented fish.

Indeed, it is the first delicatessen product the prestigious Danish establishment is marketing to the general public, having taken no less than two years to develop.

And Maison Dehesa, a supplier of fermented, cured and matured products to top chefs, needed the same amount of time to cook up its own garum, which is made from bluefin tuna bottarga – its specialty product – and large-calibre anchovies matured for two years.

This age-old sauce, now available in high-end grocery stores, could help make your summer dishes more exciting, especially fish dishes. Available as a paste or in liquid form, garum can be added as a small touch to raw sea bream carpaccio or homemade sushi. Or why not try it in a poke bowl?

In fact, you have to imagine using garum as you would a grind of salt over your plate: be careful not to be too heavy-handed, as it has a powerful flavour.

And if this new find doesn’t tempt you in this particular form, bear in mind there are already modern takes on garum, such as “nuoc mam” fish sauce used in Vietnamese cuisine, or anchovy paste.

In France, one of its variants is found in the form of pissalat. A specialty from the culinary repertoire of Nice, this condiment is prepared with sardines and anchovies and gave its name to the famous pissaladière.