Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff

on my walk

I noticed the ginger

flowering

 

Shell Ginger

is a clumping ornamental ginger

called Alpinia zerumbet

 

sometimes referred to as

Pink Porcelain Lady

 

The shell ginger

has sweet bell shaped

pink and white flowers

 

 with a bright yellow inside petal

showing red spots and stripes

 

The rhizome

is native to South East Asia

 

and grows well in this climate

 

The other ginger

the hot stuff

is also a rhizome

called Zingiber officinale

from the Sanskrit word siugabera

meaning shaped like a horn

In the early 1900s

ginger was planted at Buderim

a town one hour's drive

south of Noosa

on the Sunshine Coast

The ginger was used

for the domestic market

Up until that time

ginger had been imported

from China

 

During the war times

when supply was difficult

to obtain from China

a plantation was developed

and now the industry provides ginger

and ginger products

to 17 countries

around the world

The Buderim Ginger Factory

produces a range of ginger products

marmalades and jam

preserves

chutneys

toppings and sauces

beverages and confectionery

but my favourite

is crystalised ginger

which I love to eat

with walnuts

or almonds

 

 Ginger is one of man's earliest medicines

It first appears

in China's Pen Tsao Ching

a classic of herbs

circa 3000 BC

and is mentioned by Confucius

for its health properties

as a carminative

aiding digestion

It is also frequently mentioned

in Greek and Roman literature

Ginger was one of the original

Silk Road products

I like to use fresh ginger in Asian cooking

drop a few slices into a pot of tea

and

on a hot day drink ginger and lime cordial

or sip an ice cold ginger beer...

and of course

there are many

wonderful baking recipes

using ground ginger

Delicious hot stuff

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