Asafoetida Ferula asafoetida, Ferula gummosa, Ferula narthaex, Felura scorodosoma - Hing. One of the more important members of the Umbelliferae family, which includes parsley, fennel, carrot, cumin, coriander and caraway, amongst many others. Cultivated by the Babylonians, Greek and Romans, Asafoetida is now grown throughout western Asia, from Iran to Kashmir. Native to Afghanistan and Iran, where it is often eaten whole as a vegetable and meat tenderiser. The plant faintly resembles Cow Parsley; thick-ribbed stems with feathery-fine, lacinate, almost dill-like leaves. The main attraction for the Indian cook, however, is the sap which is produced in its stems and roots. In the early summer, these parts of the plant are cut to produce a thick, milky, malodorous fluid, which quickly congeals to a brownish-orange resin on contact with the air. It is this resin, sold both in lump and ground form, which is used as a spice in cooking and in the cosmetic industry. This last use is its most surprising, given its very smelly properties. Its specific name is derived from two word, the Persian aze, mastic, and the Latin foetida, stinking. The ancient Romans were particularly partial to it, despite the smell. They knew it as Laser, lasertum or Laserpitum. Their celebrated gourmet/gourmand and early food writer, Apicius used it extensively - especially in his own version of 'Lamb Curry': Roast Lamb flavoured with a spice mix of black pepper, spikenard, ginger, parsley. It was, of course, very expensive and he advised storing it in a jar of pine nuts, using the nuts, which absorb the flavour, and keeping the resin to flavour more nuts. The Romans brought it even further west, where it was adopted, mainly by the apothecaries in the monasteries for use in their lotions, potions and tinctures. The only place where such practices could be safely carried out without the danger of being accused of practising witchcraft. Perhaps it was the fact that it was named by these god-fearing monks, (or perhaps we English are just basically a coarse and unromantic lot - which I refuse to believe!), led to its local name here being Devil's Dung! Its legendary digestive properties make it an essential ingredient in traditional Indian vegetarian cooking where a lot of the basic foodstuffs come from that notoriously difficult-to-digest group of food-stuffs, the pulses, lentils and beans. The Brahmin and Jain sects in particular find it a useful flavouring as, when cooked, especially by frying in oil, it loses the ‘fetid’ quality and takes on a garlicky-onion flavour, making it a perfect substitute for those allia, specifically forbidden them under their dietary laws. It is not surprising, then, that Ayurveda, the study of the life forces which originated in the region most strongly linked with those cultures, has a great deal to say about the benefits of Asafoetida. It is said to be a digestive, disinfectant, and antispasmodic, mildly diuretic, a stimulant for glandular secretion, an improver of circulation and particularly useful for strengthening the nerves. Another industrial product is a resinoid, a tincture using alcoholic extraction. Steam distillation removes the notorious smell, leaving a product ideal for use in perfumery which has excellent fixative properties - so important for a perfume's staying power. As with most exotic ingredients, Asafoetida is one of those anonymous stars of modern life, being consumed on a virtual daily basis by people who have never heard its name even uttered. How? Well, in 1835, one Lord Marcus Sandys, a former governor of Bengal returned to England with a recipe for a certain liquor that he felt he could not possible live without in his retirement ‘back in Blighty’. He took it to two local chemists in Worcester - a Mr Lea and Mr Perrins, to be exact. The two chemists made double the quantity, found it to be appalling stuff and hid the surplus away in their cellars. A year or so later, however, further investigation during a spring-clean revealed a very different product indeed. Over a century-and-a-half later, Worcestershire Sauce is used world-wide in dishes, ranging from Cantonese stir-fries to Spaghetti Bolognese, Lancashire Hot-Pots to Hashis Parmentier (Shepherd's Pie to you and me). And, although the exact ingredients are still kept a closely guarded secret, even in this day and age of extensive food labelling, what is one of the mysterious essential ingredients? Why, good old Devil's Dung, of course!