By Joanna Pruess, Associated PressI KNEW ginger and I were destined to become pals the first time I tasted my grandma's molasses spice cookies. The ochre powder she added to the dough lent a warm, piquant accent that excited my taste buds.
When I was old enough to roll the chestnut-coloured balls myself, I savoured every bit of uncooked batter that stuck to my fingers (along with a few pilfered globs). It was always a trial waiting for the fresh-baked molten disks to cool, but the rewards were rich.
In time, this scenario was shared with my three children, and the fragrance that perfumes the kitchen when I bake the cookies still brings back sweet memories.
As a child, if an upset stomach laid me low, relief often came from a glass of ginger ale. Unlike some of my mom's "magic" cures that fooled me into feeling better, this wasn't a trumped-up nostrum. The native Chinese root has been used to aid digestion and encourage circulation in the body for thousands of years before the Christian era.
Colonial Americans drank ginger tea as well as plenty of ginger beer to warm the body. In Renaissance England, the pricey powdered spice was so popular, it vied with salt and pepper on the tables of the wealthy. With good reason: It added taste to often lacklustre foods or it offset the effects of spoiled meat.
Today, ginger tea rather than a carbonated drink is one of my favourite cure-alls. Either I use ginger tea bags from the health-food store, or I put a couple of slices of candied or crystallised ginger in a cup, pour on boiling water and let it steep 3 to 5 minutes. Sometimes I add honey and lemon juice; relief is prompt.
GINGER WONDERS
My latest culinary adventure is an ice cream made with lemon curd and minced pieces of candied ginger. The luxurious creaminess, accented by piquant bits of ginger, is topped with fresh blackberry coulis. To gild the lily, I serve it in a ginger tuile or with those molasses spice cookies.
(Candied ginger is produced by macerating slices of ginger in sugar syrup, then coating them with granulated sugar. Note that candied ginger sold in Asian grocery stores is generally less expensive).
Is it any wonder that this rhizome, or underground stem, of the semitropical Zingiber officinale plant, with its peppery, pungent flavour and aroma, has found its way into cuisines from Asia to Scandinavia? From Jamaica to Japan and Morocco?
During the 1980s, while my children were growing up, I taught cooking classes and worked on my first cookbook, The Supermarket Epicure (Morrow, 1988). Many of the dishes I tested were served for dinner.
FRESH, DRIED, FROZEN
One instant hit was my version of Chinese chicken with cashews, liberally laced with fresh ginger root. By then, almost every market across the country sold fresh ginger and food processors made pulverising it easy.
These days, heavy, firm hands of ginger are common. Choose pieces with few knobs or branches, then store it wrapped in paper towels in the refrigerator. It will keep for two to three weeks.
Ginger may also be chopped and frozen in a
little sherry for several months. In general, while peeling ginger is not mandatory, it does make it more attractive; a small paring knife will easily remove the papery skin. Dried ginger is best stored in a cool, dark spot for up to six months.
Other dishes that appealed to me, like Indian and Asian curries and sates, all had fresh ginger as a common ingredient. Scandinavian cookies and German
gingerbread? Again laced with ginger but as a yellow powder.
Looking back, I realise that the form of ginger used in each cuisine has a lot to do with how it arrived in the country.
Tropical areas grew their own plants. Colder climes usually had to import the spice preserved as a powder. So why then do Moroccan and Middle Eastern foods traditionally use the powdered spice? Because when the spice was originally introduced, it was brought overland and by sea from Asia.
I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to use ginger, but when baby ginger begun turning up in some specialty food stores recently, I was not impressed. Although more tender and less fibrous, it also has a less assertive flavour (and a higher price). I like the punch that mature ginger gives.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper.
