Silphium

Silphium or laser is one of the more mysterious spices/herbs and is likely extinct. It was probably related to the extant Ferula tingitana (giant Tangier fennel), which grows in North Africa.

However, by the late first century CE the herb was gone. It could never be cultivated by the Romans and when it ran out in the wild, that was it. The herb has some similarities with asafoetida (see above, a famously smelly herb), which unscrupulous traders used to adulterate or substitute for silphium; other herbs and substances were also used in adulteration. The Greek author Theophrastus described the plants as having thick roots covered in black bark; they were long with a hollow stalk similar to fennel and golden leaves resembling celery.¹⁸¹

Silphium appeared in many of Apicius’ recipes, being his fifth most commonly used herb/spice. He used it as a seasoning in sauces and sausages; in dressings for pumpkins, cucumbers and melons; in soups and broths; in lentil dishes, with legumes; in sauces for various birds; in sow’s womb (the Romans loved cooking reproductive organs), with pepper and broth for crackling, and trotters, etc.; in meat marinades, roasts and sauces for boiled meats; in a stuffing for pig’s stomach, with snails; in sauce for wild boar, venison, beef, lamb and other meats; in stuffing and sauce for suckling pig; in sauce for hare; in a hare blood, liver and lung ragout; in stuffing for dormice; and sauce for fish.

It is possible that silphium could make a comeback, or indeed, it may not even be extinct. The problem is, no one really knows what it looks like.