The history of fish sauce dates back over 2,000 years. During the Roman era, a special condiment similar to today’s fish sauce, called garum, emerged. Garum was first found in Greece, in the ancient jars recovered from sunken ships.
Vietnamese fish sauce appeared over 300 years ago in Phan Thiet, thanks to the Cham people who learned it from Indians and later passed it on to the Kinh people. However, few knew that this deeply rooted traditional seasoning originated from Rome. Since Dai Viet had various types of dried fish sauce before, when they encountered Garum in liquid form, Vietnamese fishermen of that time referred to it as “liquid fish sauce” – later, it gradually became known as fish sauce.
From 1693, over 300 years ago, when Champa merged completely with Dai Viet, fish sauce began to be widely used in our country’s daily meals. The cradle of fish sauce back then was in Phan Thiet, located in Trấn Thuận Thành.
Inheriting the fermentation method from the Cham people, along with favorable natural conditions with abundant delicious fish and high-quality pure salt, fishermen in Phan Thiet elevated Vietnamese fish sauce to new heights of excellence.
