Pantry guide
Best Asafoetida for home cooking
What Asafoetida is for, which kitchens use it, and where to find a jar worth cooking with.
Why cooks start here
Hing: a resin that, bloomed in fat, tastes like onion and garlic to a fasting kitchen.
In the International Cuisines books, Asafoetida is not decoration. Add it where the recipe puts it: early if it needs fat and time, late if it is perfume.
Taste Asafoetida before you empty the spoon. Fresh jars smell like themselves; tired ones smell like dust. Buy the smallest amount you will finish.