Walk through one of our produce departments, and you’re essentially touring a museum of plant parts—a collection of fruits, stems, leaves, tubers and roots, each one the result of thousands of years of culinary and agricultural tradition. Let’s focus for a moment on one piece of plant anatomy that’s often left off of the list, the rarest of them all (at least on our shelves,) and possibly the most powerful: the rhizomes.
Simply put, a rhizome is a stem that grows underground. New branches sprout out of a rhizome, making it distinct from a root like a carrot, turnip, or beet. Sometimes part of a rhizome thickens, resulting in a tuber, like a potato, jicama, or sweet potato. If you’re looking for an edible rhizome, you’ll only find two in our produce departments: ginger and turmeric.
Both ginger and turmeric are members of the Zingiberaceae family of tropical plants, and both have powerful medicinal properties as well as delicious culinary applications.
Ginger
Ginger is a familiar flavor to many—spicy, sharp, warm, and pungent. The active ingredient in fresh ginger is called gingerol, and it’s what gives it its spicy flavor. When cooked or dried using heat, gingerol transforms into a different flavor compound called zingerone, which is sweeter and milder than gingerol.
Gingerol from fresh ginger packs a serious flavor punch. Its spicy heat can be just the thing to warm you up on a cold winter day, and it’s also where many of the medicinal benefits of fresh ginger are found. For centuries, ginger has been used to aid in digestion, to ward off nausea, and studies have shown that it has antibacterial properties as well.
Turmeric
Turmeric doesn’t have the spiciness of ginger, but it has an earthy, pungent, bitter and somewhat peppery flavor that, when combined with its intensely bright orange color, is also a wonderful anecdote to a cold winter day.
The compound that’s responsible for turmeric’s color is called curcumin, and it’s one of the most widely studied natural compounds anywhere. Curcurmin has been shown to be a powerful anti-inflammatory, useful in the treatment of many different ailments such as osteoarthritis, joint pain, and indigestion. Cooking curcurmin, at least for short periods, does not lessen its effectiveness. In fact, some studies have been shown that exposing curcurmin to heat may help it be absorbed into the body.
Quick & Easy Ways to Incorporate Ginger & Turmeric into Your Diet
Turmeric Milk
This traditional Indian drink is extremely warming, making it a lovely wintertime drink. Try adding crushed peppercorns for extra heat, or a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) to soothe a sore throat. Simmer a stick of grated turmeric in milk (dairy or non-dairy) for up to 20 minutes; remove from the heat and steep for a few minutes more. Strain, add honey to taste and enjoy!
Ginger Tea
Another wonderful winter drink. It’s important that you only steep the ginger in hot water—boiling it for any length of time will start the conversion of gingerol into zingerone and reduce the medicinal benefits of the tea. Steep thinly sliced ginger in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Strain if desired. Add honey or maple syrup for sweetener.
Golden Rice
Mix finely grated turmeric to cooked brown rice to give it a lovely color and added flavor dimension.
Salad Dressings and Marinades
Add fresh-grated ginger to salad dressings and marinades for an extra spicy flavor. This is particularly good for soy sauce based perparations.
Stir Fries and Curries
Both turmeric and ginger are wonderful additions to any stir fry or curry. Simply grate them on top right before serving (like you might use Parmesan cheese), for the freshest flavor.
Smoothies
Add small pieces of turmeric or ginger to any smoothie for added flavor, color, and nutrition.
