WHAT ARE SPICES?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22137, 15 December 1933, Page 18

WHAT ARE SPICES?

ii. (Contributed by the Home Science Extension Service). Continuing our discussion of the most common spices, we find;— CURRY POWDER. A condiment so highly seasoned that only within recent years has its use obtained a substantial foothold in temperate climates, though it has been extensively used in India and Ceylon countries for many generations. In India and Ceylon it commonly consists of black and cayenne peppers mixed with a number of spices, such as nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves, and made into a powder or paste with turmeric. That sold in New Zealand usually contains turmeric, coriander seed, black and cayenne peppers, and ginger. It is retailed in packets, jars, and bottles, and should be kept tightly corked or stoppered. In India and Ceylon curry sauces are added to many dishes—generally a few minutes before the completion of cooking or before serving. Meats, poultry, fish, and vegetables—-all are so treated—but the dishes which are considered especially suitable for curry are those which have rice as a complement to'the dish. CORIANDER SEED. The smooth round yellowish brownish seed like fruit—a little smaller than peppercorns—borne by a small plant native to the south of Europe and Asia Minor now widely grown. It is used as a culinary flavour, especially for curries and pastries,, and by Mexicans in soups and in the manufacture of confectionery. CARAWAY SEEDS. Caraway seeds are the deep brown, highly aromatic fruits or “seeds” of a plant which grows wild in the meadows of Holland and northern Germany and is cultivated in many other countries including the United States of America, especially in California. The seeds are employed in a variety of ways as a culinary flavour in confectionery and in baking. In Germany they are 'especially popular for flavouring bread, and in Holland for cheese. For these and similar purposes the general use is of the seeds entire, but there is a considerable industrial consumption—chiefly in the perfumery and soap-making industry—of the distilled essential oils. The roots of the caraway plant resemble parsnips and serve as an excellent vegetable when young and tender. The young shoots may be used for flavouring soups and stews. GINGER.

The rhizome or rootstock of a perennial, reed-like plant with annual leafy sterns three to four feet high, which grows freely in moist places m all tropical climates. The rhizomes are gathered when the stalks wither. For “ coated ” or “ black ” ginger with its brown, wrinkled surface they are then scaldet) or simply washed and set to dry In the sun. This is the method usually employed for the older, poorer roots. For “ uncoated ” or “ white ginger ”, the washing is followed by scraping. The natural colour of white, scraped ginger is a pale buff—it is often whitened by bleaching, but generally at the expense of some of its real value.

“ Green ginger ” is that which has been scalded, scraped, and dried. It is used by. makers of preserves. Preserved, conserved, or Canton ginger consists of young green roots boiled and cured in syrup and put in pots and jars. Crystallised ginger is also made from the young roots. The best grades, selected for uniform size and appearance, are called stem ginger. CHILLIES AND PEPPERS.

These belong to the family of Capsicums, which are bushy, much-branched plants cultivated in nearly every part of the world, for they have spread around the globe from their native home in tropical America, and to-day run wild in the tropics of the Orient. There are two or more species, divisible into many varieties. The small fruited kinds, generally the most pungent, are best known popularly as “chillies” and the larger as “ peppers.”

Chillies are used whole in vinegars and pickles. Many of them are ground and marketed in the form of cayenne pepper. “Peppers” are eaten as a vegetable, or these two are ground and sold as red pepper and paprika. The pungency of the capsicum is formed in the tissues enclosing-the seeds, but it passes by contact to other parts of the fruit.