A typical entry from The Herbalist in the Kitchen.

Illustration from:
Woodville, William. Medical botany: containing systematic and general descriptions, with plates, of all the medicinal plants, indigenous and exotic, comprehended in the catalogues of the materia medica, as published by the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh: accompanied with a circumstantial detail of their medicinal effects, and of the diseases in which they have been most successfully employed... .
Volume 1 of 4. London: Printed and sold for the author by James Phillips, 1790-1793.
Courtesy of the Rare Book Collection of the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

Asafoedita

Ferula foetida

Other Common or Ethnic Names

Asafoetity, Asafedity, Assafedity, Divel's Dreck, Fetty, Fidity, Food of the Gods, Hing, Metath, Stinking Gum

It has been listed botanically, as Asafoetida nartex, Ferula asafoetida and Narthex assafeotida.

Burma/Myanmar: Sheingho

Estonia: Asafootida

Germany: Asant, Stinkasant, Teufelsdreck

France: Asafetide, Assa Foetida, Ferule Persique

Iceland: Asafoetida

India: Anjadana, Ingu, Inguva, Hengu, Hing, Hingu, Kayam, Perungayam, Perunkaya, Raamathan

Iran: Retshina Fena

Italy: Assafetida

Netherlands: Asafoetida, Duivelsdrek, Godenvoedsel

Norway: Dyvels Drekk

Russia: Asafetida

Spain: Asafetida

Sri Lanka: Perunkayan

Swahili: Mvuje

Sweden: Dyvelstrack

Related Species

Ferula communis: Common Giant Fennel. A weed indigenous to the Eastern Mediterannean area. This is not the familiar edible Fennel (q.v.).

Ferula narthex: Asafoetita

Ferula gummosa: Asafoetita

Ferula scorodosoma: Asafoetita

Ferula galbaniflua: Galbano (Italy and Spain); Galbanum

Ferula sumbul: Sumbul Root

Growth Habits

Perennial

Origin: Afghanistan and Iraq

Range: Sandy deserts

Culinary Uses

Nasty-smelling almost beyond belief, Asafoedita has somehow found its way into a number of cuisines. In small amounts (like musk) it lends an intriguing, exotic quality to foods. Fortunately, it loses its pungency when cooked.

The resin, made by drying the plant's milky sap, is used in India and Iran to flavor curries, meatballs and pickles. The achars, or mixed hot pickles, of India are often laced with Asafoedita. While it is popular among Hindus in Kashmir, it is never used by Moslems.

Ferula foetida, Ferula narthex, Ferula narthex, and Ferula scorodosoma all yield the resin commercially.

It was used in Classical Rome--it may be that our Worcestershire Sauce is a descendent of those ancient Asafoedita-laced concoctions.

The entire plant is used as a vegetable.

Asafoedita's foul pungency results from Diallyl Sulfide, as well as a number of other sulfur compounds that are closely related to those responsible for Garlic's antisocial behavior. It also contains a-Pinene and Phellandrene.

Galbanum yields a floral-scented oil that is used in baked goods, candies and ice creams. It contains Myrcene, Cadinene, d-a-Pinene, b-Pinene and several Sesquiterpenes.

Other Uses

People used to ties little bags of Asafoedita around their neck to ward off winter diseases. It is hard to imagine life in a time when running water was unavailable, people sewed themselves into their long johns for the winter, and then chose to adorn themselves with Asafoedita. It probably worked -- since the chances of exposure to communicable disease were probably pretty light!

The resin, after a steam treatment to remove some of its more unsavory aromas, is used as a fixing agent in perfumes.

Comments

Save yourself a truly unpleasant experience: if you find a store that carries Asafoedita, resist the temptation to smell it for yourself. Asafoedita was known to the ancients as Stercus Diaboli, the devil's own excrement. Enough said?

Other than Ferula communis, none of these species are listed as growing in North America, according to Hortus Third. This could mean that they are not grown here, Hortus doesn't know that they are grown here, or that the species names are incorrect.

(Notes: diacriticals have been removed on the online version of this excerpt from The Herbalist in the Kitchen; they are included in the print version. Names of ingredients -- other than proper nouns -- are capitalized in the text if they have entries of their own, elsewhere in the book. A large and detailed glossary explains the technical terms used in the entries.)

pd