5 ms·

Any luck reviving this? Seems like it'd be worth doing if it is possible.

• antattack 6y ago
  Just use Turmeric :)
  • dangerbird2 6y ago
    Asafoetida is probably the closest substitute, as it's made from the same plant genus that silphium belonged to. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asafoetida
    • antattack 6y ago
      Turmeric is purported to have all of the qualities attributed to Silphium where as Asafoetida does not.
      • mcguire 6y ago
        "[A]safoetida, was used as a cheaper substitute for silphium [by the Romans], and had similar enough qualities that Romans, including the geographer Strabo, used the same word to describe both." -- the article
• riffraff 6y ago
  it may even be still existing, i.e. it got to the brink of extinction and then by the time it recovered we had already lost the knowledge of it. There is a ton of wild plants or animals that you can eat and probably normally don't (dandelion, wild fennel, portulaca, nettles, jellyfish etc), I wouldn't focus too much on one that may be extinct. Taste changed a lot over the centuries, and I wouldn't bet that something highly prized in ancient Rome would still be as appreciated today.
  • auntienomen 6y ago
    Indeed, Roman banquet food could be flat out crazy by modern standards: sows udders, fried dormice, peacock tongues,... https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/20/712772285/the-lavish-roman-banquet-a-calculated-display-of-debauchery-and-power https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/05/20/712772285/th...
    • ArnoVW 6y ago
      Oblig. Monty Python reference: https://youtu.be/H5ofIBw3uMM https://youtu.be/H5ofIBw3uMM
    • riffraff 6y ago
      Ah, I feel I have to point out that dormouse was still eaten until recent times (i.e. decades ago) in Italy/Slovenia/Croatia. They are now a protected species, but I would expect they are still eaten from time to time to this day.
• mallomarmeasle 6y ago
  If it is like asafoetida ("devil's dung"), as mentioned on the linked page, I'm out. The only spice I know that can manage to seep out of a closed container in a spice drawer and infest the rest of your spices. Given the roman taste for garum [0](also notably pungent), I'd have to guess that the similarity is real. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garum
  • vivekv 6y ago
    asafoetida is a standard item in most Indian cooking if you have eaten dal you have had asafoetida
    • mallomarmeasle 6y ago
      Yes I know. I have bought it and used it in cooking. Takes a pretty light touch to not offend many (most?) western palates. Very easy to overdose, but I have loved it in my Indian friend's home cooked food.
      • hirsin 6y ago
        Huh. We usually joke that hing (the Hindi name) is like bay leaves - mostly there for tradition but largely tasteless. I couldn't tell you what it tastes like and use the traditional "big pinch" of hing in most of my cooking.
        • jacobolus 6y ago
          Bay leaves definitely have a flavor. Adding more than you need can really unbalance a dish. If you want to learn what they taste like by themselves, you could make a cup of tea by steeping a few dried leaves in boiling water.
          • mcguire 6y ago
            The one memory from a short trip to Jamaica years ago is fresh Bay leaves. They're amazing.