[Sca-cooks] Re: ancient Roman cookery

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Sep 29, 2005, at 12:47 PM, Aurelia Coritana wrote:

> Serena, thank you so much for the roast recipe! It looks yummy.  
> Since laser is extinct, lemongrass is a pretty good substitute for  
> those (many) recipes that call for laser.

I'm sure it would work, but if I may ask, how close does it come? I  
know asafeotida is a common substitute used in period when Cyrenacian  
sylphium vanished, but it's not clear [to me] whether it's actually  
similar or merely another strong-flavored root or resin. What _is_  
clear, however, is that lemongrass and asafeotida are really  
different (asafeotida tastes a bit like garlicky musk). What's the  
rationale for lemongrass? I ask only because it's an ingredient  
substitution I've never heard of until now, and I've been doing Roman  
food for a while myself.

Hey, I even _like_ lemongrass more than I like asafeotida, although  
the latter is great with fish dishes ;-).

Adamantius






"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04