What is asofoetida

[Guest guest]

Lynne - I find it in Indian/Pakistani groceries here in the States

(US).

Its an oniony citrus taste when cooked. Keep it tightly corked, in a

dark place: its scent isn't very pleasant raw.

Chupa

 

Asafoetida

(asafetida)

Ferula assafoetida

Fam: Umbelliferae

 

Asafoetida gets its name from the Persian aza, for mastic or resin,

and the Latin foetidus, for stinking. It is a gum that is from the

sap of the roots and stem of the ferula species, a giant fennel that

exudes a vile odour. Early records mention that Alexander the Great

carried this " stink finger " west in 4 BC. It was used as a spice in

ancient Rome, and although not native to India, it has been used in

Indian medicine and cookery for ages. It was believed that asafoetida

enhanced singers voices. In the days of the Mughal aristocracy, the

court singers if Agra and Delhi would eat a spoonful of asafoetida

with butter and practice on the banks of the river Yamuna.

 

Spice Description

Asafoetida is a hard resinous gum, grayish-white when fresh,

darkening with age to yellow, red and eventually brown. It is sold in

blocks or pieces as a gum and more frequently as a fine yellow

powder, sometimes crystalline or granulated.

Bouquet: a pungent smell of rotting onions or sulfur. The smell

dissipates with cooking.

Flavour: on its own, extremely unpleasant, like concentrated rotten

garlic. When cooked, it adds an onion-like flavour.

Hotness Scale: 0

 

 

" Lynne Gardiner " <tsimandnef wrote:What is asofoetida? I am in

Australia, so some of our names are different.

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