Garum

(this was written last night, honest it was. Then the internet failed to co-operate, so i went to bed and am posting it now)

You learn something new every day, or at least you do if you want to. I suppose there are many people who go through entire days, maybe weeks, maybe even whole years, without absorbing any new facts or expanding their minds in any way.
In fact, come to think of it, they might well be the majority.
I am not 100% sure that I do learn something new every day, but I like the phrase, I like the concept, and I’m pretty sure that just through following facebook and glancing through the news, I actually do. I haven’t tried to catalog it, or keep a record or anything. Maybe I should. That might make an interesting book. 365 new things.
Today I learned that in ancient Rome there was a thing called garum, which was a key element of Roman cuisine, and has almost disappeared from existence. Almost. There are plenty of descriptions of it in literature, though, and one little Italian fishing village where it is still made, so it’s not a completely dead thing.
Apparently, it was like an oil, made from fermented fish and salt. That sounds a bit gross to me, but the culinarily savvy commenters seemed to think it’s great stuff. So, maybe some day I will get an opportunity to try it.
Because, as important as it is to learn something new every day, experiencing something new is even more awesome. And experiencing something new really doesn’t happen every day.