On a sunny day in May, a dozen people met in the Roman ruins of Troia, in what is now Portugal, with a recipe. The ingredient list? 400 kilos of sardines, 150 kilos of sea salt, and 350 liters of seawater. The group included archaeologists, nutritionists, palynologists, ichthyologists, and, of course, one skilled chef. They had assembled to experimentally recreate garum, the ancient fish sauce of the Roman Empire, just as it was originally produced. The group patiently gutted the small fish with two or three cross-cuts, threw them into…
