PREMIUM GROUND GINGER

Few spices can do this much. Ginger goes into the soup and into the cake, into the pan and into the teapot – and fits every role. Ours comes from Nigeria, one of the biggest ginger countries in the world, valued for especially aromatic, oil-rich ginger. These oils are what really matters: they hold everything you smell and taste. We sort it by hand and fill it fresh into our tins – so that exactly that is what reaches you.

Full, warm and rounded. First a bright, almost lemony freshness, then a spiciness that fills the whole palate instead of just stinging at the front. In the finish it turns soft and slightly sweet. It does bring heat, but as a warming background – not as the lead. And a little goes a long way: a level teaspoon is usually enough for a pot for four people.

Savory: in any homemade curry powder, in wok dishes, in marinades for poultry, lamb and fish, in pumpkin, carrot and lentil soup, in roasted vegetables, chutneys and Asian dressings. Sweet: in pound cakes, carrot cake, crumb cakes, stewed apples, in jam with pear or rhubarb and in dark chocolate desserts. Liquid: in chai, in hot water with lemon and honey, in homemade syrup for ginger ale, lemonades and cocktails. A tip from our kitchen: let it cook briefly in the hot fat before the liquid goes in – that brings out noticeably more than if it only goes into the pot at the end.

Ginger was once a luxury good: in medieval Europe it was sold in apothecaries, and in England a pound of it at times cost as much as a whole sheep. What made it so valuable still makes it delicate today – the aroma lives in volatile oils, and they fade with light, air and time. So: store it in a dark, dry place, tightly sealed, not above the stove. Then you’ll keep the fragrance for a long time. By the way: what we call ginger root isn’t a root at all, but an underground shoot – the plant stores its reserves in it.