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Devil’s Dung - the joy of asafoetida

by Gillian Polack

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Asafoetida (ferula foetida, ferula assa-foetida or ferula narthex) has a lovely variety of really glamorous common names. My favourite is ‘devil’s dung.’ The names in different languages are unexpectedly varied, too. For instance, in French it is férule perisque, German: teufeldreck (Devil’s Dung), in Italian it is assafetida and in Spanish, asafétida. The most important language to know the name in is Hindi, where it is hing.

Devil’s Dung is a brilliant flavour enhancer/salt replacement, but should be measured almost by the granule. In Australia it’s possible to buy a very pure almost overpowering tiny tub of the powder. It’s also possible to buy a yellowish and less overpowering version, which has been cut with turmeric. You want to avoid the latter.

Ferulas are really giant fennel plants (which would be great in a Day of the Triffids variant - “the Devil’s Dung is taking over the world�): the sap dries into a solid resin-like mass which is the spice asafoetida. The smallest container of it lasts just about forever, even if you use it regularly. Uncooked, it smells foul for just about forever, also.

Its use goes back at least as far as Aryan settlement in India. It is even mentioned in the Mahabharata as a garnishing for meat.

My source for this last bit is K.T. Ahcaya’s Indian Food: a Historical Companion - we’re not in the Middle Ages or even in Europe anymore - but asafoetida is such a seriously cool spice that it’s worth travelling to meet. And if you’re interested in the history of Indian food, Achaya’s book is an excellent place to start.

Achaya

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Posted in General, books, herbs and spices, ingredients on February 11th, 2007

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