Everything about Asafoetida totally explained
Asafoetida (
Ferula assafoetida), alternative spelling
asafetida,
(also known as
devil's dung,
stinking gum,
asant,
food of the gods,
hing,
Hilteet, and
giant fennel) is a species of
Ferula native to
Iran. It is an
herbaceous perennial plant growing to 2 m tall, with stout, hollow, somewhat succulent stems 5-8 cm diameter at the base of the plant. The leaves are 30–40 cm long, tripinnate or even more finely divided, with a stout basal sheath clasping the stem. The
flowers are yellow, produced in large compound
umbels.
Asafoetida has a foul smell when raw, but in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavor, reminiscent of
leeks.
Uses
Cooking
This spice is used as a digestive aid, in food as a condiment and in pickles. Its odor is so strong that it must be stored in airtight containers; otherwise the aroma, which is nauseating in quantities, will contaminate other spices stored nearby. However, its odour and flavor become much milder and more pleasant upon heating in oil or
ghee, acquiring a taste and aroma reminiscent of sautéed
onion and
garlic(External Link
). In India, it's used especially by the merchant
caste of the Hindus and by adherents of
Jainism, who don't eat onions or garlic. It is used in most vegetarian and lentil dishes to both add flavor and aroma and reduce flatulence. It is mainly grown in
Iran,
Afghanistan. The Indian companies Laljee Godhoo, Laxmi Hing (R M Kanani & Co - Gujarat) are the world's largest producers of compounded asafoetida.
Impact on health and medical applications
Asafetida has certain medicinal uses and most commonly is used as a digestive aid. It is reputed to lessen
flatulence and is often added to lentil or eggplant dishes in small quantities. It is also said to be helpful in cases of
asthma and
bronchitis. A folk tradition remedy for children's colds: it's mixed into a foul-smelling paste and hung in a bag around the afflicted child's neck. In Thailand it's used to aid babies' digestion and is smeared on the child's stomach in an alcohol
tincture known as "mahahing".
John C Duval reported in 1936 that the odor of asafetida is attractive to the wolf, a matter of common knowledge, he says, along the Texas/Mexico border.
Asafetida has also been reported to have
contraceptive/
abortifacient activity, and is related (and considered an inferior substitute to) the ancient
Ferula species
Silphium.
Asafoetida oleo-gum-resin has been reported to be antiepileptic in classical Unani as well as ethnobotanical literature.
Other practical or spiritual uses
It is also used as one of several possible scent baits, most notably for catfish and pike.
In Jamaica, asafetida is traditionally applied to a baby's anterior
fontanel (Jamaican patois "mole") in order to prevent spirits (Jamaican patois "duppies") from entering the baby through the fontanel.
History
It was familiar in the early Mediterranean, having come by land across Iran, and was popular in any self-respecting Classical kitchen. Though it's generally forgotten now in Europe, it's 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'd 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 isn't 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, is 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. The rich Brahmins, and all the Hindus who are vegetarian, eat a lot of it. They add it to their vegetables and herbs, and first rubbing the cooking pot with it: it's seasoning, sauce, and condiment in every dish they eat."
Composition
Typical asafoetida contains about 40-64% resin, 25% endogeneous gum, 10-17% volatile oil, and 1.5-10% ash. The resin portion is known to contain asareninotannols 'A' and 'B', ferulic acid, umbelliferone and four unidentified compounds.
Etymology
Asafoetida's
English and scientific name is derived from the
Persian word for resin (asa) and
Latin foetida, which refers to its strong sulfurous
odor. Its pungent odor has resulted in its being called by many unpleasant names; thus in
French it's known (among other names) as
Merde du Diable (Devil's Shit); in some dialects of English too it was known as
Devil's Dung, and equivalent names can be found in most
Germanic languages (for example
German Teufelsdreck,
Swedish Dyvelsträck,
Dutch Duivelsdrek,
Afrikaans Duiwelsdrek), also in
Finnish Pirunpaska or
Pirunpihka. In
Turkish, it's known as
Şeytantersi,
Şeytan bökösu or
Şeytanotu (the Devil's Herb). In many of the
Indo-Aryan languages it's known as
hing or "Heeng". Another name occurs in many
Dravidian languages (for example
Telugu Inguva,
Kannada Ingu), but
Tamil (perungaayam) and Malayalam
kaayam come from a different root.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Asafoetida'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://asafoetida.totallyexplained.com">Asafoetida Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
