Nova Roma

Chapter 19 - Salt and fishing

In the crystalline waters of Olissipo it is possible to see a child teaching a girl to swim by some guards at sea, this would be a normal scene in the 21st century but in 21 BC the sea rarely had the connotation of fun this due that people had very defined their role and the fact that only people who had jobs related to water knew how to swim, leaving the swim only for some nobles or veterans who enjoyed their retirement and want to learn something new.

In the sea, Flavio was teaching Hellena the right way to swim, when she could hear Hellena’s stomach sound she just blushed.

Flavio hugged her very carefully "If you’re hungry just tell me, you don’t have to keep it.

Come, we go to the villa where I will make a delicious meal waiting for us, after eating I continue teaching you to swim "

Hellena nodded and followed Flavio out of the sea saltwater.

Flavio came out of the sea with hellena and took her to the villa where they were staying.

There Flavio prepared a ceviche (Fish marinated with citron juice (the Only citrus for the time known in Rome, lemons later arrived from India passing through Persia to reach Roma)) and with mustard so that it had a spicy touch

Although the taste was not the most delicious with the resources that counted the taste was passable while eating, Flavio realized that the amount of fish that was fished in the sea It was very small since the fishermen were only close to the coast

Another problem was salt even though there are salt flats in the Roman empire they produce for the regions where they are if Flavio wants to improve the amount of fish that is produced will need a lot of salt to prevent the fish from rotting or worse still producing a product similar to Surströmming ¹ .

The fastest way that Flavio has to produce salt is to boil it and concentrate it to let the sun finish evaporating it (If it is not done in this way, the salt can be bitter), but boiling salt is not easy, it needs a source of heat like wood but if done in this way will promote massive deforestation without mentioning that this produces a lot of smoke which can alter the taste of the salt

But Flavio has the correct solution if the coal (vegetable or mineral) is combined with binders it is possible to create a briquette, the briquette is easy to make, cheap and does not produce smoke in its combustion to make it Flavio ??placed charcoal with water, after that occupying a mortar he undid wood chips to make them look more like sawdust, he also ground dry leaves and All this was placed with the charcoal and added a small amount of clay until a dough was produced

Which later placed in a square mold that he ordered to make with an In the lower part, to let it drain, with a small press, the dough was pressed in the mold until the excess water drained, after that Flavio took out a small brick which he left to dry in the sun, this process was repeated several times until the dough was finished in total Flavio ??obtained 20 briquettes

After that Flavio drew a briquette workshop where he also drew the necessary tools, ready the necessary materials and the process that had to be followed step by step, once finished ordered that a workshop be built-in Olissipo and one in strong Dovahkiin

Also ordered that a copy be taken to his grandfather along with a letter explaining that this technology should only be in the hands of the imperial family was necessary to protect it because its applications were from the civilian to the military, he also emphasized that the mineral coal was very important for the creation of the briquettes he marked him approximately in a map of Europe where there were coal mines that could be occupied.

During the time the briquettes were drying, Flavio took the opportunity to continue teaching Hellena to swim, eventually, she burned in the sun in the absence of sunscreen.

So Flavio used egg white by smearing it on Hellena’s sunburned skin while using her Divine energy so that she would recover and not suffer skin damage.

These small actions made Hellena always want to be with Flavio.

After a week the briquettes were ready for use Flavio began to boil salt in an iron container occupying the briquettes as fuel after it was concentrated was allowed to dry in the sun a few iron plates, if another week passed and the final result was a sea salt of considerable quality.

During that time Flavio also did not waste time just by dedicating himself to the salt, he started to create a trawl net and modified a 400 ton cargo ship to make the trawl net be coupled to it, use a manual pulley system so that two sailors could pull the net inside the boat another thing that modified the ship was an entrance to the interior where the fishing could be emptied

After some tests in the coast, Flavio prepare himself with his crew of sailors to ship to the Atlantic where he will test the operation of the trawl, In the Atlantic ocean after test the net the sailors and Flavio saw how was multiplied by 10 the amount of fish that was caught, also the net caught a shark and some turtles

The shark is perfect for sanding with its skin while most of its meat and organs are not edible for flavor but can be used as fertilizer in the harvests after a small process of the liver you can get oil which works as a source of vitamins and omega 3

Flavio remembers that in his childhood his Grandmother gave him shark oil but knew it was good but another thing that prepared his Grandmother was the rear fin of the breaded shark, as for the turtle’s nothing like a turtle soup to warm the soul

After returning to the port, a large quantity of fish was unloaded, the shark and the turtles, after giving the order to cut the shark, Flavio began to draw the plans for the construction of fishing boats with trawls in the shipyard.

With a constant supply of salt and fish, the people would not have a lack of food an this will make his food more varied.

That night Flavio had dinner by candlelight with Hellena a delicious turtle soup and breaded shark fin meat and delicious apple cider was on the table, after dinner the delicious feast the two went to sleep that night.

What Flavio did not know was that his actions would increase the demography of Roma by cheapening the costs of the fish and guarantee a source of cheap heat there were no famines or people killed by the cold therefore the empire expanded in subsequent generations.

The Surströmming is a fish that originated because of salting the fish was very expensive therefore it was much cheaper to place only a small amount of salt in it and let it ferment this produces an extremely disgusting smell but an edible product