[Sca-cooks] Laserpitium - was: ancient Roman cookery

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Aurelia Coritana wrote:
>  Since laser is extinct, lemongrass is a pretty good substitute for those
>  (many) recipes that call for laser.

I realize that related plants don't always taste similar - while 
anise and fennel seeds do, ginger and galangal do not - but i've 
substituted asafoetida for its relative silphium.

Alone, like so many spices, asafoetida is not so nice, but used in 
appropriate amounts, it is really nice - it helps all that various 
disparate flavors meld nicely together.

I've never heard of using unrelated lemon grass as a substitute. I do 
use lemon grass in Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian recipes.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita