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Organic ginger spices up your Asian cooking, and can ease your aching tummy. Use it to soothe and invigorate
your Asian recipes.
History Of Ginger
Ginger figures in dozens of cuisines from Indian to Chinese, German to Jamaican.This versatile spice with its fresh, piquant flavor is ground from the “root” (actually a rhizome) of Zingiber officinale, a plant native to Southeast Asia, known for its gorgeous, lily-like flowers.
Cooks have treasured ginger’s pungent, bright taste for thousands of years. Recipes using ginger appear in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, written around the 4th century BC.
Traders grew it in boxes aboard their ships, spreading it along ancient sea routes north to China, Korea and Japan, and south and west to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Islands. It then traveled by ship and caravan to the Middle East, Africa, and eventually Europe, where it was beloved by ancient Roman cooks and pharmacists 2,000 years ago.
Today ginger is still a widely known home remedy. The Indians and Chinese use it to relieve nausea and motion sickness; English and American moms give ginger ale to settle the stomach; and scientists note ginger’s anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Ginger’s unique flavor lends itself equally well to savory or sweet foods: scenting delicate fish dishes, giving bite to savory beef stews and sassy chicken stir-fries, and adding zest to creamy desserts or even cheesecake or cobblers. Ginger has a special affinity to lemon, orange and other citrus flavors – use it in lively marinades for fish or chicken. Combined with lime juice and sweetened with honey, it adds spark to fresh bananas, ripe melon or other seasonal fruits. To substitute for fresh ginger, use ½ teaspoon powdered ginger to 1 teaspoon fresh (or for 1-2 teaspoons preserved ginger).
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