Asafoetida / hing

Ferula spp.

spice

A dried resin from the root of a large Iranian giant fennel, an umbellifer, sold as powder; a pinch cooked in oil stands in for garlic and onion in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking.

Origin

Iran and Afghanistan

Season (United States)

imported · all year round

Preparation

A pinch, never more, is fried for a few seconds in hot oil before the other ingredients; raw, its sulphurous smell is strong, mellowing with cooking into a taste of garlic and onion.

Molecules

In small amounts, not counted Allium sulfur compounds

Did you know?

Its popular English name is “devil's dung”; in Old French it was simply called “puant”, “stinking”.