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Ginger — Not Just A Movie Star Stuck Forever In Reruns — But Also A Wonder Spice To Cook With

I would like to tell you a bit about a spice than many of you will probably NOT have in your kitchen spice rack — but one that you really should consider using more often.

Ginger.

Many of us only know ginger as the “flavoring” of ginger ale or ginger bread cookies — or as the movie star on Gilligan’s Island.

But ginger is a versatile spice that can be used in many cooking preparations and dishes. In particular the cuisines of the Indian Ocean “Spice Belt” make use of the wonderfully pungent flavor and aroma of ginger.

Fresh Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome – or root bulb – of a plant that grows abundantly in the tropics.

The flavor and aroma of fresh ginger is highly pungent and it is often described as feeling “hot” on the tongue. Not in the same class as chile peppers — more of a mild heat.

The root or rhizome has a knarled, knotty look – sorta like horseradish but with more “branches” off-shooting from the center stalk. In fact, it is often said that the whole thing resembles a strange alien-shaped hand — although how anyone would know what an alien hand looks like is beyond me.

When buying fresh ginger, look for a piece that is plump and firm and colored creamy or even white.

It is becoming easier to find jars of minced ginger. These will do in a pinch, but much of the flavor starts to go as soon as you grate or chop ginger, so these will never be as good as fresh.

Look for fresh roots from Jamaica or Bali for the very best taste.

Using Fresh Ginger

Here are a few hints and tips to using fresh grated ginger. To really explore the spice though, pick up a good Indian, Southeast Asia or Indian Ocean Spice Trail cookbook and start exploring. Ease into the taste with a recipe for something with fish or carrots and you will probably not be disappointed.

A small to medium pinch of grated ginger will make a dish taste “fresher” somehow and tends to lessen the overpowering “fishy” taste of certain strong sea foods. To fully experience the heat or pungency of ginger — in other words to get the full ginger taste — add a bit of freshly grated to the dish right before serving instead of cooking it in.

When peeling ginger, try using a spoon and just scrape off the skin instead of trying to peel it. You’ll find this is easier and produces much less if any waste.

Ground ginger or powder is a totally different beast and can be substituted for fresh in recipes very rarely if ever to get satisfactory results. Having said that, there are recipes that are best with dried, powdered ginger — like gingerbread men.

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Tags: Cooking
Posted in Gourmet cooking · July 16th, 2010 · Comments (0)

Searching For The Higher High – The Quest Of All True Chile-Heads

To a true chilihead it often comes as a shock to realize that most people they meet have never had anything hotter than a nacho jalapeno slice or dried chili powder for their kitchen spice rack in their mouth.

Why? Because as hot as that jalapeno may seem to you, there is actually more heat levels above it than below it.

What are Chiliheads?

Chilihead is what people who love hot peppers and hot foods in general typically call themselves. Naturally this comes from the chili pepper — a good source of tongue burning heat.

Don’t be confused with chile — the beef and bean stew that cowboys love. Most chiliheads probably love chile — but they are really two very different things.

Chili Powder is also different. It is a mixture of several spices used to flavor foods.

Chili peppers are the most common source of heat in foods — thus the name chilihead. But mustard, ginger, horseradish and several other foods can also deliver delicious eye-watering heat.

Hot Peppers

Now about that jalapeno.

The heat of peppers comes from a chemical called capsaicin. The more capsaicin in a pepper, the hotter it feels on the tongue. The heat is measured by using the Scoville scale and the amount given is in Scoville Units. It’s a bit more complicated to explain than can be done in this short article, but basically — the more Scoville Units the hotter the pepper.

Your normal ballpark nacho jalapeno slice will typically rate about 1,000 Scoville Units. A fresh, unpickled jalapeno about 5,000.

If you gasp for breath, break out in a sweat and have to blow your nose after eating these — you may want to stop reading now.

A Thai chili — used in many traditional Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes — weighs in at around 75,000 Scoville Units. Or about 15 to 75 times as hot as that jalapeno. Don’t expect to get too many in your basic cheap Chinese takeout. They know their market and usually use less hot varieties. But if you get some highend or authentic Oriental food you may encounter them. You’ll know it if you do.

On the extreme upper end of the scale is the habanero pepper. Sometimes called the Scotch bonnet, this pepper rates as high as a head exploding 500,000 Scoville Units.

Reaching Even Higher

Remarkably, even though the Red Savino habanero is the hottest pepper on the planet, it pales in comparison to some of the hot sauces on the market. By extracting and concentrating capsaicin, hot sauce makers have achieved the unthinkable heat levels of 3,000,000 plus Scoville Units.

It has been said that these sauces are to your jalapeno slice what the atom bomb is to the beat of a butterflys wings.

And this is the realm of the true chilihead who puts this stuff on hamburgers, sandwiches, chicken wings — and in chile.

Heaven help us.

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Tags: chili peppers
Posted in Gourmet cooking · July 9th, 2010 · Comments (0)