A is for Asafoetida, Allspice & Anise

A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink

We’ve been fine tuning our olfactory organs and immersing ourselves in a cloud of wonderful scents. In this episode Neil explains why asafoetida is a substitute for garlic and onions by some religious groups; Sam chats to food writer and broadcaster Melissa Thompson about jerk seasoning (which includes allspice) and Allie has a gripe about a literary misappropriation of aniseed.

Useful Links

For more information on Melissa Thompson visit the FOWL MOUTHS: Food & Recipe Project website or Instagram. Melissa’s book Motherland is a great read as well as being packed with mouthwatering recipes.

Neil’s recipe for Yorkshire Curd Tart and Seed Cake

Dogs and anise

Pepper cake recipe on Traditional Yorkshire Recipes blog

‘The Wandering Womb’ article in the New Yorker

Suggested Reading

• The History and Natural History of Spices: The 5,000-Year Search for Flavour by Ian Anderson, (2023)
• ‘Christopher Columbus, Gonzalo Pizarro, and the Search for Cinnamon’ by Andrew Dalby. Gastronomica, (2001)1(2), 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2001.1.2.40
• The English Huswife (1615) by Gervase Markham
• Allspice Pepper Seasoning: Mexican Case by Miguel Angel Martinez Alfaro Virginia Evangelista Oliva, Myrna Mendoza Cruz Cristina Mapes and Francisco Basurto Peña
• ‘A Description of the Pimienta or Jamaica Pepper-Tree’ by Hans Sloane, in Philosophical Transactions (1686)
• A Natural History of Jamaica (1705) by Hans Sloane
• The Hobbit (1937) by JRR Tolkien
• Spice: The History of Temptation by Jack Turner. London: Harper Perennial (2004). Turner says that in Le Paradis sexuel des aphrodisiaques (1971) Marcel Rouet advocated rubbing your penis with pepper oil and allspice before intercourse (as an alternative to raw chillies) to drive your partner wild with excitement!