Back to the kitchen for another session of holiday cooking
with the herbs and spices of the world. Our guide is The Lore of Spices by J.O.
Swahn, and this year we're spicing it up by borrowing seasonings from the
cuisines of the world. Today we're looking at turmeric, which originates in
Southern Asia, but is cultivated in southern India, China, Taiwan, Philippines,
Java, Haiti, Jamaica, and Peru.
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Botanical illustration of Curcuma longa
(published before 1923 and public domain in the United States)
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Curcuma longa (or C. domestica) is from the ginger family
(Zingiberaceae) and is a key
ingredient of curry powder. The plant propagates from a rhizome, and at harvest the rhizomes are dug up, cooked, cleaned, sun-dried for a week, and then
polished. The deep yellow-orange pieces are ground into a powder that is used
in both food and drink, and as a dye. According to Swahn, Asian medicine uses
turmeric (and recently Western medicine has been looking at turmeric as well).
He also warns that turmeric may be passed off to tourists as a cheap
alternative to saffron.
Rhizomes are short, tuberous, with yellow flesh. Leaves to
1.5 feet long and 8 inches wide. A flower spike terminates the leafy stems to 7
inches long, with a terminal tuft of white bracts. Flowers are pale yellow. Widely
cultivated in the tropics.
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