Turmeric

[poliphilo]

As we move towards a healthier, Gaia-friendly diet we're finding we're eating things we've never eaten before. T'other day it was chickweed today it's turmeric.

I've cooked with turmeric powder of course but what we're talking about here is the root in its virgin form. It's very, very orange. Bite into it and it's juicy and crunchy, has a clean, medicinal taste and leaves a tingle behind.  It's something like ginger but not as fiery.

Comments

[matrixmann]

Oh, only take care with that stuff with the color that it makes. You gonna find yellow in your kitchen in any place still after 3 days - and you don't get it fully washed off. It needs to get lost by grabbing.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Too late.

I have deep yellow stains on my hand. Never mind. It's an attractive colour. :)

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Fresh turmeric seems to be becoming fashionable; I've read several recipes with it recently - though I've never heard of it before! It sounds delicious, though, so I might just have to get some the next time I go to Copenhagen - apparently it's as easy to propagate as ginger, so I could be self-sufficient with another lovely spice within a year! ;-)

(There are things you cannot by in a small country supermarket... I rather suspect fresh turmeric would be considered quite avant-garde down here!)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

This is the first time it's come my way. Ailz got it from Sainsbury's.

I was cooking my usual mixed vegetables in cheese sauce and threw in some chopped turmeric root at the last minute. It may have been an afterthought but it was a good one.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Well, around here I have a selection of small Co-op type supermarkets so nothing as fancy as Sainsbury's! (Quoth he who used to do his daily shopping in Waitrose back in the day!)

I love the colour that dried turmeric gives, so clearly I need to try the fresh stuff as well! And if I can grow it myself, all the better. What's the point of owning a greenhouse if not to grow subtropical foods?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I assume turmeric is also used as a dye. I came away from cutting it up with brilliant orange stains on my hands.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

It is infamously used in fake saffron to give that rich yellow colour... But yes, back in ye olde 1970's my mother has dyed wool with turmeric. Though apparently it's a bit tricky to fix the dye to the fabric, especially if you're not liberated enough to use human urine. (My mother was a moderate hippie - nothing in excess, not even natural dyeing processes.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the point of saffron. I mean, it doesn't seem to taste of anything very much- whereas turmeric does.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Even with the ground stuff, turmeric stains for life, not just for Christmas. I shudder to think what the fresh stuff might do. But it is supposed to be good for you (anti-cancer and all that).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The golden yellow stains on my hand are still there eight hours later...

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Citric acid tends to clear discolouration - but why bother if you don't need to? It will wear off in time.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's what I feel. I'm not ashamed of my stains. If anyone asks I'll be happy to explain.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

Our local market has started selling turmeric root. I grate it into things.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think I'm going to make sure we always have some in stock.

[topum.livejournal.com]

I like turmeric a lot. I eat it like candy sometimes.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I can see myself doing that.