The Abandoned Fish Sauce Terrorizing a Small Canadian Town
7 hours ago
- St. Mary's, Newfoundland, has endured a stench from 900,000 liters of fish sauce abandoned in vats for over 20 years, prompting a $2 million cleanup starting in 2024.
- The fish sauce was created by the Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company in 1990 using discarded male capelin, but the project was abandoned in 2001 after regulatory hurdles.
- Food scientist Bryan Quoc Le explains that traditional fish sauce fermentation relies on enzymes breaking down proteins into amino acids like glutamic acid, with salt preventing pathogens.
- The extended 20-year fermentation could produce unique flavors via Maillard reactions and slow bacterial activity, but also strong amines and rancid compounds from fat oxidation.
- Despite the putrid smell, Le speculates the sauce might have complex umami and even sweetness underneath, and he would taste it for science if given the chance.