[Sca-cooks] Galangal

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Phlip wrote:
>Can someone tell me the difference between Greater and Lesser Galangal? And,
>maybe, direct me someplace where I might obtain both varieties? It's
>becoming important in some recipes I'm looking over.

OK - i've passed along info on three related roots... Now, what are 
the recipes?

As for which one to use, Andrew Dalby in "Dangerous Tastes" posits 
that galangal (greater galangal/Alpinia galanga) was the one called 
for in Medieval recipes, but that since supply was sporadic and not 
entirely reliable, other similar rhizomes (such as Kaempferia galanga 
(kencur/lesser galangal) or Boesenbergia pandurata (temu 
kunci/fingerrot)) may have been substituted for galangal if it didn't 
arrive in a shipment.

When i'm cooking Medieval recipes i always use galangal 
(laos/lengkuas/kha) since that was apparently the most common and the 
preferred root.

If i'm cooking Indonesian or Thai food, i use the actual form called 
for in the original recipe, since they all taste different and only 
the right one will yield the right flavor.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita