SC - Re: Lamb

[Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir]

Cairistiona wrote:
>Oh, and by the way, I went to a jenever (gin) museum the other day - very
>nicely laid out with touchy feely exhibits all over it.  The sacks of spice
>for flavouring were especially good.  I was particularly interested in the
>galingale (which, yes, they still use), since I had not been able to lay my
>hands on any until then (no pun intended, but it was rather fun to run my
>hands through a sack of the stuff).  What struck me most was the fact that
>it smelt so much like a mild turmeric.  Do the two taste similar?  Could one
>use a _little_ turmeric to replace galingale in recipes?

In a word, NO.

Ginger and galangal are botanically related, but while both are similar
looking rhizomes on the outside, their internal color, smell, and flavor
are quite different. What you smelled must have been old and stale, since
galangal has a rather resinous smell which is also a tad sharp and is
beigy, not yellow.

You can find it fresh in Thai markets, where it's called Kha. They also
often have fresh turmeric rhizomes, too - a revelation compared to dried
powder.

Galangal is also extensively used in Javanese cooking, so you can buy the
dried powder from Indonesian and some Dutch markets. The Indonesian name is
Laos.

Galangal is available through many mail-order spice vendors.

Anahita Gaouri bint-Karim al-hakim al-Fassi


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