By Susan Bozeman
History:
Ginger is native to China and India, the word deriving from Sanskrit meaning ‘with a body like a deer’s antler’. Ginger’s shape reminds me of another root that is commonly sold in our supermarkets that can be prepared like potatoes, but obnoxiously produces such awful flatulence as to have made it totally banned in our home: Jerusalem artichoke. I digress.
Ginger spice was so popular in Europe that it was often provided in containers like salt and pepper. In England, the-epicentre-com says that pub owners and innkeepers provided small containers of ground ginger for customers to sprinkle into their beer, the original ginger ale!
Interestingly, the most searched-for ginger topic on Google seems to be a pornographic star with the first name of Ginger! That is probably due to a combination of things, maybe red hair, often called ginger hair, or that she spices up men’s lives.
Ginger Root Properly Called Ginger Rhizome:
Regardless of popularity, we will speak here of the rhizome, Zingiber officinale, the ginger spice commonly used to make gingerbread cookies, ginger tea and flavor Asian cuisine and sauces. A rhizome is an underground stem, not a true root. If you were to dig up the whole ginger plant, you’d see fine hairs that feed the rhizome – those are ginger’s real ‘roots’.
As an aside, these rhizome nodule clumps are called ‘hands’ and that is how they are shipped to your grocery store, in clumps which you purchase by weight. You can break off a nodule, skin it and slice it thinly or finely grate it for additions to sauces or soups. Asian cuisine often calls for its use fresh, while many western recipes call for dried, ground ginger. Continue reading