Hello, my name is "Ginger" Contributed By D. Max

Ginger is a wonderful spice that appeals to all senses. The shapes are particularly interesting, almost fractal-like. Each ginger is unique in shape and form. If you look closely you might even see faces or objects in the ginger. A Rorschach Root!

You can buy ginger both fresh and as a dried powder. Fresh ginger resembles a thick knobby root but is in fact not a root, but rather a kind of thick underground stem called a rhizome. A Rorschach Rhizome! Fresh ginger has a thin, pale brown skin and moist, pale gold flesh. It has a slightly pungent, slightly hot flavor and a lively, fresh aroma. Powdered ginger has a hot-sweet flavor and is used as a spice for such things as gingerbread and pumpkin pie. Its taste is only vaguely similar to fresh ginger, so the two are not interchangeable.

When choosing fresh ginger, look for extremely hard rhizomes that snap easily into pieces. Avoid dry, shriveled stems that feel light for their size. Keep fresh ginger in refrigerator crisper in a plastic bag with a paper towel to absorb moisture (to prevent mold, change towel occasionally). It will last for two or three weeks. To extend its life, you can freeze ginger. You don't even need to defrost it, and ginger is much easier to grate when frozen.

Peel fresh ginger with a sharp knife, vegetable peeler, or ginger grater. If the ginger is especially firm, it can be chopped in the food processor. If the ginger is soft, the food processor may just smash it and tear it instead of cutting it into discrete bits, so use a knife instead. You can grate ginger using a specialized Japanese or Chinese ginger grater (which has a series of fine teeth that rake the flesh off the fibers). The finest side of a regular box-shaped grater also works although it is hardest to clean. To really extract the flavor while leaving out the fiber, feed chunks of fresh ginger to a juice machine.

Check out some ginger recipes:
Dancing with Ginger
Champagne Gingembre Nouveau

Ginger tips:
Ginger is most delicious pureed with grapefruit juice. They compliment each other perfectly and fight colds like crazy!(contributed by E. Riley)

If anyone suffers from motion sickness, eat gingersnaps (cookies) before and while traveling (air, land, sea), and chew fresh ginger for seasickness. Ginger pills are available at health food stores, but fresh works faster, if you can stand it. It works faster, longer, and better than Dramamine or patches, with no side effects.(contributed by L. Vogel)

Just another note on ginger - it's a natural antibiotic used extensively in places like Papua New Guinea where infections are rampant. A glass of ginger "beer" a day keeps all kinds of nasties away! (contributed by M. Laycock)

I store ginger in sherry, in a glass container and in the refrigerator. It not only keeps well, but sherry absorbs ginger flavor and is a great seasoning, itself.(contributed by T. Tindall)

One good way to make little pieces of ginger root(ed note: rhizome) out of bigger pieces. Try your blender. It works. Especially good for a frozen ginger root. (contributed by E. Marion)

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