Chapter 19 - Salt and fishing (1/2)

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.