Friday, February 3, 2012

Another Strange Roman Food Ingredient: Laser


Called "laser" in the food writings of Apicius, it is also known as silphium.  The jury is still out on what the plant actually was.  Some say that it was the African equivalent of the Ferula family, the most famous member of which is the Indian Asafoetida called hing in Hindi, which was known in Roman times because it has spread westward to the eastern Roman provinces--and was used as a cheaper substitute for the real laser.  What is known is that was produced in the North Africa city Cyrene.  This one spice was one of the reasons that holding the territories in the dusty north of that continent was so profitable.  Add to that several small sites now in northern Morocco and one very large factory in southern Spain that produced Roman fish sauce, garum; well then you've got a great deal of wealth coming from the desert!


The plant was already ancient when the Romans acquired a taste for it.  Minoans and ancient Egyptians used the plant, which has been described as resembling, all at the same time, bulb fennel, wild carrot, celery and wild fennel.  It passed into Roman consumption from Greek markets.  It is suspected by some to be a giant member of the parsley family.  The part that became the spice was actually the dried pulverized resin.  It apparently resisted all attempts to cultivate the plant, and only grew wild in ever decreasing areas--until it became extinct.  It was of such importance in Rome, that it appeared on Roman coins.  In modern times the use of hing as a substitute is perfectly acceptable.


The Italians, ever proud of their Roman ancestry, have not eaten this spice since ancient times, yet it did not stop them from sporting it as a heraldic symbol on the uniforms of men deployed to North Africa in World War II!

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