All about spices : Turmeric

Turmeric
Synonyms: turmeric, yellow root, gurgemey, zarchava, haldi. A perennial herb of the ginger family.

Motherland - Indochina. Grown in India, Kambozhde, Ceylon, Indonesia (Java), Southern China, Japan, the Philippines, Madagascar and the island of La Réunion, in the Caribbean (Haiti), in the USSR - in Transcaucasia.

Turmeric as a spice known for more than 2500 years. At first it was used only in Indochina and India, at the end of the century I turmeric was first imported to ancient Greece and has been continuously imported into Europe. Greeks called it yellow ginger. XVI-XVII centuries, turmeric has been known in Western Europe called terra merita - worthy land. And only in the middle of the XVIII century it acquired its present name turmeric - Latinized Arabic. Central Asia, it is called zarchava.



Turmeric
China turmeric was introduced 400 years later than in Europe, but being cultivated there, gave the best shopping variety, very rare and highly valued in the world market.

Preparation of turmeric-spices - a complex process: the roots of freshly-boiled tubers turmeric together with certain special dyes, then dried, peeled, then they acquire a distinctive orange color.

As a spice used mainly lateral, long turmeric roots, rather than the central square - a tuber.

Finished roots are firm on the cut shine like the horn, very dense, sink in water. They have a slightly pungent, slightly bitter taste, reminiscent of ginger, but their flavor is thin, peculiar - very pleasant, sometimes weakly significant.

Usually do not sell turmeric roots and powder, similar to the finest powder.

Also turmeric, there are still 40 species of turmeric, of which only three are used in the food industry.

Aromatic turmeric (Curcuma aromatica Salisb.)

It is sometimes incorrectly called "Indian saffron". Used primarily in the confectionery industry, where turmeric is valued higher.

Tsedoariya turmeric (Curcuma zedoaria Ross) or tsitvarnaya root.

Square pear-shaped size of a walnut or a pigeon's egg. Not sold as a powder, and cut into small pieces - slices called "shallow turmeric." Has a slightly bitter flavor and camphor-burning taste. Used as a substitute for turmeric in the production of liqueurs.

Round turmeric (Curcuma leucorrhizae).

Plant, coming mainly for cooking Turmeric starch.

***
Turmeric - a spice widely used in the East, especially in Southeast Asia, and as a flavoring for food and as a food coloring, and finally as a medical facility.

Turmeric is an indispensable component of all spice mixtures, especially Indian "curry" and Central mixtures for pilaf. Without gravy with turmeric unthinkable none rice dish in Indian Ocean countries.

Central Asia and Azerbaijan turmeric, is unchanged seasoning for pilaf. Pilaf such as "that bollards" (wedding), "yangilik burnings" (abundance), "zarchava burnings" (Turmeric), "mayiz burnings" (pilaf in Bukhara), impossible to cook without turmeric.

European and American countries turmeric is exported mainly from India. The largest application in Europe, turmeric is in England, where it is traditionally added to all meat and egg dishes and sauces. other European countries, turmeric is used in the confectionery industry, and mainly as a food coloring to dye liquors, pickles, butter and cheese, as well as in the production of mustard. In addition to the beautiful coloring turmeric gives food product freshness and makes it more resistant during prolonged storage.

Turmeric is introduced into the food in extremely small quantities, usually in such cases, the recommendation to "pinch" good for one kilogram of rice. Turmeric to make pilaf or directly before placing rice when it is already fully prepared zirvak (stewed meat with butter, onions and carrots) or for 3-5 minutes until cooked pilaf, when the water boils away almost completely.