Delicacy

January 24, 2010, 8:31 am • Tags: , ,

icon_32Ginger is a tuber that is consumed whole as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. Cultivation of ginger originated in Asia and has since spread to West Africa and the Caribbean. It is cooked as an ingredient in many dishes and can also be steeped in boiling water to make ginger tea, to which honey, sliced orange or lemon fruit is often added.

It is often used as a spice in Indian recipes and is one of the main spices used for making curries and other vegetable preparations. In China, sliced or whole ginger root is often paired with savory dishes such as fish, and in some parts of the Middle East ginger powder is used as a spice for coffee. In Japan, ginger is pickled to make gari, which is often served and eaten after sushi. It also acts as a food preservative and has been proven to kill the harmful bacteria salmonella.

Ginger is a stimulant to the digestive tract which aids in digestion. It may also decrease pain from arthritis and have blood thinning and cholesterol lowering properties that may make it useful for treating heart disease. Ginger compounds are active against a form of diarrhea which is the leading cause of infant death in developing countries, and has been found effective in multiple studies for treating nausea caused by seasickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy. When taken into the nostrils ginger causes severe sneezing.

Ginger beer was first produced as an alcoholic beverage in the 1700s and became very popular in Britain and North America. In Kenya and Tanzania, ginger beer is a very popular drink called tangawizi, which is the Swahili word for ginger. Stoney Tangawizi is a product of the Coca-Cola Company.