*  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                             Ginger (Nytimes)

Recipe By     : John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Ginger                           Information

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        ginger root
                        ground ginger
                        crystallized ginger

INTRO: Ginger: the spice, native to tropical Asia, contributes to food a
freshness similar to Citrus. It is also said to have a number of health
benefits

In traditional American cooking, ginger is used to flavor cakes and
cookies, including that bizarre confection known as a gingerbread person.
But to 2.5 billion people living in southern Asia, fresh ginger is a taste
nearly as ubiquitous and familiar as salt.

Native to tropical Asia, ginger has been cultivated in China for at least
3,000 years. It is a bedrock ingredient in every regional cuisine of that
vast country.

Ginger is also used in virtually every traditional savory dish of the
Indian subcontinent, Sri Sanka and Southeast Asia. In these regions it is
often pounded with other spices to form a paste, which is then sauteed as
the first step in cooking a dish.

In Japan, ginger is typically pickled or grated and then squeezed to
extract the juice, which is used to flavor meat and to dress salads.

Ginger is widely believed to calm the stomach, cure colds and coughs,
increase appetites both sexual and gustatory, and generally cleanse and
purify the body. Highly aromatic, floral and pungent, with undertones of
lemon and a slightly astringent quality, ginger contributes to food a
freshness similar to that of citrus. It also helps to round and harmonize
other flavors.

Ginger's chemical makeup helps explain its flavor. It contains an unusually
high proportion of volatile oils -- even for a spice -- a characteristic
that accounts for its strong aroma. And its pungency is provided not by
capsaicin, which is responsible for the heat of chili peppers, but by the
much gentler gingerol.

Despite its frequent designation as "ginger root," ginger is not actually a
root. Instead it is a rhizome, an underground stem that grows sideways,
rather than down, and has roots of its own. The ginger rhizomes grow at the
base of a tropical evergreen plant that may reach as high as four feet
above the ground, sporting a double row of narrow, glossy leaves and
yellow-purplish flowers.

Fresh ginger is gaining fans in the United States and is available in
supermarkets around the country. This new-found popularity is an example of
history's cyclical nature, for ginger was once an important component of
European cooking.

Ginger was popular in ancient Greece and Rome. Its origin, like that of
other spices that came overland from Asia, was cloaked in myth by the
Middle Eastern merchants who brought it to their European customers.

So popular did this costly flavoring become that the word "ginger" came to
stand for spices in general, and shakers of powdered ginger were often put
on the table along side salt and pepper.

Shortly after Europeans discovered their own routes to the sources of
ginger in the 1400s, however, heavy spicing began to lose favor, and
subtlety of flavor became the mark of refined dining. Only recently have
European and American cooks begun to reexamine cooking with a lot of spaces.

Ginger is a natural for experimenting, not only because it is compatible
with other ingredients but also because it requires little preparation. It
does, however, have to be peeled to be eaten.

The older ginger gets, the more likely it is to be fibrous. This does not
affect its flavor, but is a problem if you are planning to use the ginger
raw and in matchstick form. If the ginger is too fibrous, grate or mince it
instead.

When selecting fresh ginger, look for stems that are firm and heavy, with
relatively clear skin. To store ginger, wrap it in paper towels, place in a
plastic bag and refrigerate. It will keep as long as two weeks.

--Released by New York Times News Service, reprinted in Riverside
Press-Enterprise, Aug 30, 1998 (Sun) MasterCook from kitpath@earthlink.net




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