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English Name: Asafetida Botanical name: Ferula assa-foetida L. Urdu Name: ہینگ Arabic Name: حلتيت Uses: It was familiar in the early Mediterranean, having come by land across Iran, and was popular in any self-respecting Classical kitchen Though it is generally forgotten now in Europe, it is still widely used in India (commonly known there as hing). It emerged into Europe from a conquering expedition of Alexander the Great, who after returning from a trip to north-eastern Persia (modern Afghanistan), thought they had found a plant almost identical to the famed silphium of Cyrene in north Africa -- though less tasty. Dioscorides, in the first century, wrote that, "the Cyrenaic kind, even if one just tastes it, at once arouses a humour throughout the body and has a very healthy aroma, so that it is not noticed on the breath, or only a little; but the Median [Iranian] is weaker in power and has a nastier smell." Nevertheless, it could be substituted for silphium in cooking, which was fortunate, because a few decades after Dioscorides time, the true silphium of Cyrene went extinct, and Asafoetida gained in popularity, by physicians as well as cooks. After the Roman Empire fell, until the 16th century, asafoetida was rare in Europe, and if ever encountered, it was viewed as a medicine. "If used in cookery, it would ruin every dish because of its dreadful smell," asserted García de Orta's European guest. Nonsense, García replies, "nothing is more widely used in every part of India, both in medicine and in cookery. All the Hindus who can afford it buy it to add to their food. |
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