Hing!

[desperance]

I have newly realised - I think - why the Asian foodstores hereabouts insist on keeping asafoetida behind the counter, rather than with all the other spices. It is purely and simply to make us ask for it, so that we can say "asafoetida" and they can look blankly and we can learn to say hing instead. It's a game we play on both sides, the same way every time. But I will not yield. I insist on my right to say asafoetida first, before slipping in a "hing" just that precious moment before some helpful other person does.

Comments

[gool_duck]

So, nothing at all to do with not wanting accidents involving hing to happen in the shop - or customers unfamiliar with it to buy hing and then complain - or anything that makes any sense?

[desperance]

I dunno. Hard to see how accidents could happen, given that it comes in sealed containers that are actually quite difficult to break into (as against all their other spices, in easily-torn plastic bags). And in this powdered form it's really not that strongly scented. Not enough to justify a complaint, at any rate.

[gool_duck]

Then I could well be utterly wrong.

[desperance]

Actually I think you're probably right. It's hard to think of any other (serious) reason for it; but, seriously, I don't think they have anything to worry about, other than the paranoia of the great British public.

[lamentables]

My Indian friend finds it hysterical that we construct it as a dangerous spice that needs to be carefully managed, and as a horrible smell. I love the stuff.
Lacking a convenient Asian supermarket, I recently bought some Bart's asafoetida and found that it was a much fuller and more intense flavour than the hing I'd been buying.

[desperance]

Oh, really? I might pursue that - except that I don't think any of my Bart's-stocking supermarkets stock asafoetida.

Now you've set me thinking. I shall probably end up exploring the internets in search of a more true source. (Damn it, isn't it supposed to be a gum...?)

[lamentables]

When I did a little digging I found a page for the asafoetida connoisseur selling it in different colours from different regions with detailed descriptions of the variations... I was tempted. Very tempted.