the name of the plant Zingiber officinale, and of its rhizomes. These are mainly consumed in the fresh (‘green’) state in the countries where they grow, but are also dried to provide an important spice; preserved with sugar to constitute a sweetmeat; and processed to yield an oil used for flavouring.
The ginger plant is unknown in the wild state, but is thought to have originated in SE Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times, and was among the most highly prized of the eastern imports to the Roman Empire. However, Romans used it relatively little in cookery, prizing it rather for medicinal purposes.
The fall of the Roman Empire did not stop the trade of ginger to Europe. It was in use in England in Anglo-Saxon times; and in later medieval times it was almost as common in England as pepper. By that time it was also being imported in preserved form for use as a sweetmeat. The history of gingerbread goes back to the same period.
India produces about half the world output of ginger. Other important producers include Jamaica (whose dried ginger, pale and of delicate flavour, is highly esteemed), China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Nigeria. In recent times Australia too has developed production, specializing in preserved ginger.
The degree of pungency (caused by certain non-volatile compounds called gingerols) and the aroma and flavour of ginger vary according to many factors (region of origin, cultivar, conditions in which grown, stage at which harvested).
Fresh ginger and dried ginger differ noticeably in their flavouring effects. Both are used in Asian kitchens, but with the emphasis on fresh (sliced to the thickness of a coin), whereas in western countries it is more usual to find the dried, commonly in powdered form. European cookery in medieval times, at least in well-to-do households, made free use of ginger in all sorts of dishes, but by the 18th century use had become more narrowly focused, on baked goods such as biscuits and cakes; it has stayed there ever since, although the growing influence of oriental cuisines in Europe has brought about a certain revival of use in savoury dishes.
In Burma, where freshwater fish are preferred to sea fish, ginger has been used to mask the marine tang of the latter; used in a fair quantity, it will mask just about anything.
Fresh young ginger is used to make a delicious and subtle ginger drink called khing sot in Thailand. The ginger tea of Kashmir is famous. Ginger oil is used to flavour ginger beer (alcoholic to a varying degree) and ginger ale (non-alcoholic).
Shoga, Zingiber mioga, is a Japanese ginger, a milder species grown in Japan, and used fresh or pickled; see mioga ginger.
Another relation of ginger, but in a different genus, is Etlingera elatior, sometimes called torch ginger, which is used for food purposes in, e.g., Malaysia and Indonesia. These uses are summed up by Facciola (2000):
Inflorescences are eaten raw, steamed, roasted, or used in curries. The heart of the stems is cooked and served with rice. Half-ripe fruits are eaten in soups and stews. Ripe fruits are eaten as delicacies or made into sweetmeats.
There is some cultivation of this plant in Malaysia, where the name bunga kantan is used of the inflorescence. The plant is known as ondje in Java.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
