[Sca-cooks] galingale/galanga/galangal

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Wed Jan 10 21:37:11 PST 2007


I received this message today, which I will be placing in the  
Florilegium. However, I was under the impression that "galingale" was  
the same as "galanga or galangal", probably from, as Jason mentions,  
comments from this list.

So can any one clarify this or refute one assertion or the other?

I am copying him on this message. Please remember that he is not on  
this list so copy him on any replies. I will try to remember to  
forward any replies to him, however.

Bear, you seem to be rather good at solving these kinds of puzzles,  
so I'd especially like to hear your comments on this.

Thanks,
   Stefan

<<<
From: 	  jason at grazecatering.com
Subject: 	Galingale
Date: 	January 10, 2007 4:59:08 PM CST
To: 	  stefan at florilegium.org

  First,
Thanks for providing a forum to exchange information about all things  
medieval.  I would like to point out what seems to be a very glaring  
(although understandable) error that is being taken as fact on your  
site.  I am a chef  of a small catering business specializing in  
globally-inspired hors d'oeuvres.  As a result, I have a tremendous  
assortment of spices from all over the world, and always doing  
research to find new "unusual" or "unknown" ingredients.  Lately I  
have been doing a lot of research on medieval cuisine and cooking  
techniques, which lead to my quest for galingale.  Many contributors  
to florilegium are saying with authority that the spice "galingale"  
mentioned in so many medieval recipes is the same as the spice  
"galanga or galangal" used in southeast Asian cooking.  However, my  
research indicates otherwise.  Galanga (kaempferis parviflora) is a  
rhisome related to ginger, while galingale (cyperus longus) is a  
sedge or type of grass native to the UK and other parts of Europe,  
the root of which has been used for medicine and cooking for  
centuries, if not millenia.  [See www.killerplants.com ]
I would be interested to hear what others think about this and if  
anyone knows of a source for dried galingale.

Sincerely,

Jason Bartis  >>>

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****




More information about the Sca-cooks mailing list