Holiday Cooking – Ginger

Hard to believe that it is the Christmas holiday season again! A year ago I reported on the plants that season some of my favorite Christmas recipes. This year my holiday baking is slightly delayed while I finish my Plant Diseases class. Until then, I can learn more about the spices I love, using J.O. Swahn’s The Lore of Spices.

First up is ginger – a key ingredient in many of my cookie recipes, as well as the Asian dishes I enjoy preparing. The exact origin of Zingiber officinale is unknown, but it is thought to have been native to Southern or Southeast Asia tropical rain forests, or the islands to the east. It is no longer found in the wild, but is cultivated around the world in China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Jamaica, and other West Indies islands. According to Swahn, ginger was the first spice plant to travel from the Old World to New for cultivation. Ginger produces a light yellow essential oil that is used in the food industry to flavor ginger ale, ginger beer, and preserves such as Gherkin pickles. It is dried and ground to powder to flavor curry sauces and baked goods, and can be used raw. Historically, ginger had a reputation for being an aphrodisiac – something to consider when planning a romantic dinner menu.

Botanical illustration of Zingiber officinale from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and public domain in the United States.

Ginger is a perennial tropical plant with a dense stem to 20 inches tall, composed of overlapping leaves. Flowers are yellow-green, with a purple lip with cream blotches and base, surround by green bracts with translucent margins. Leaves are up to 7 inches long and ¾ inches wide, with parallel veins (monocot). Ginger is obtained from the tuberous, aromatic rhizome, which is an underground stem (not a root). Ginger plants are cultivated for more than a year before the rhizomes are harvested. They are dug up, cleaned, and sun dried in preparation for sale.