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Posted on 2:40 PM by Wanto and filed under
By John Piano
Vanilla is the only spice obtained from the aristocratic family of orchids. In the wild its twining stems climb high up into the tops of trees, anchoring themselves by means of aerial roots.
The zygomorphic flowers of ginger have only one stamen, the other two being modified into a strikingly coloured lip. The pungently aromatic rootstock has been much in demand as a spice from the far distant past to the present day.
This perennial plant, native to tropical Asia, was known in ancient China and India and is referred to in Sanskrit as `sringavere'. Ginger was shipped from its original home to southern Europe by Arabian merchants before the Christian era. It occurs frequently on the pages of the 3rd-century Roman cookbook 'De re coquinaria' written by Apicius Caelius.
Dried, ripe grapes, available in shops in the form of raisins, sultanas and currants are also used as flavouring in cookery. Raisins are the dried fruit of a small dark seeded grape whereas sultanas and currants are seedless. They are added to sweet yeast dough to make buns and fruit breads, and cream-cheese fillings as well as to sweet sauces served with meat.
Vanilla is used solely for flavouring sweet dishes such as puddings, custards and chocolate dishes, cake fillings and ice cream. Vanilla essence, made from extracts of the pod, or vanilla sugar (castor sugar placed in a closed jar together with a vanilla pod thereby absorbing its aroma) are used as flavouring.
Ginger is propagated by vegetative means, by cutting the rootstock into pieces and planting these out in light and moisture-retaining soil. It is harvested (ploughed up) 6 to 12 months later
The zygomorphic flowers of ginger have only one stamen, the other two being modified into a strikingly coloured lip. The pungently aromatic rootstock has been much in demand as a spice from the far distant past to the present day.
This perennial plant, native to tropical Asia, was known in ancient China and India and is referred to in Sanskrit as `sringavere'. Ginger was shipped from its original home to southern Europe by Arabian merchants before the Christian era. It occurs frequently on the pages of the 3rd-century Roman cookbook 'De re coquinaria' written by Apicius Caelius.
Dried, ripe grapes, available in shops in the form of raisins, sultanas and currants are also used as flavouring in cookery. Raisins are the dried fruit of a small dark seeded grape whereas sultanas and currants are seedless. They are added to sweet yeast dough to make buns and fruit breads, and cream-cheese fillings as well as to sweet sauces served with meat.
Vanilla is used solely for flavouring sweet dishes such as puddings, custards and chocolate dishes, cake fillings and ice cream. Vanilla essence, made from extracts of the pod, or vanilla sugar (castor sugar placed in a closed jar together with a vanilla pod thereby absorbing its aroma) are used as flavouring.
Ginger is propagated by vegetative means, by cutting the rootstock into pieces and planting these out in light and moisture-retaining soil. It is harvested (ploughed up) 6 to 12 months later
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