Ginger: The pungent spice

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) has long been a popular ingredient in both medicinal and culinary settings. However, while ginger, and the related galangal, were once both popular ingredients in Britain (e.g., from roughly the 9th to the 17th centuries), they essentially disappeared from savoury culinary recipes thereafter, as spiced foods fell out of fashion (though the dried spice continued to be used in sweet baked products). However, the desirable pungency and flavour attributes of ginger, together with renewed interest in the spice’s medicinal properties, combined with the growing popularity of Asian cuisines that make extensive use of ginger (in savoury recipes), has seen a recent resurgence in sales of this once popular spice. From a culinary perspective, the volatiles in ginger help to lift the taste of the dishes to which they are added while the spice’s pungency may offer a means of substituting for some of the less healthy ingredients currently in our food.