12th April 2013
Winter 2010: Spice to cure all
As consumers become more interested in the health and well being that ingredients can bring them, consultant chef Edwin Cheeseman puts the spotlight on turmeric.
As this is not the British Medical Journal or the Lancet not so much time should be spent expounding the health virtues of turmeric, a plant native to Southern India and Indonesia.
However, the resulting spice turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin is worth mentioning briefly because of the wide range of reported benefits, some of which may surprise chefs.
It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns. It speeds up wound healing and assists in remodelling damaged skin and may help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.
It is reportedly a natural liver detoxifier and may prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing amyloyd plaque build up in the brain. It may even prevent many forms of cancer. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for different kinds of arthritis, working as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects. It has also long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.
It makes you wonder if you should you keep it in the medicine cabinet or the kitchen?
On a recent visit to Malaysia, as is our normal practice, we enquired about the location of the local commercial food market – the equivalent I suppose of our own Billingsgate fish, Smithfield meat and Covent Garden vegetable markets in the UK, but here it’s all in one place.
At 3am we informed our driver we wanted to go to the market to which he replied that the “tourist market not open until 8am”. When we explained that the market we wanted to visit was the commercial one just outside the city he said we were crazy – “you really not want go that place”.
On arrival you could understand his concerns, as it really was a farm, a feedlot, a slaughterhouse, a butchers and market stall for all things edible in one place. One advantage was that everyone seemed to be at least a foot shorter than the average European making visible access at least much easier than usual.
Talking about food chain or food miles, this was more of a link than a chain and miles became centimetres. Live fish in plastic kiddies’ paddling pools and live birds and frogs in cages, with the already high temperatures, the close proximity of product and buyers combined, the smell was quite overpowering. The vegetable and herb section was another matter altogether, with the fragrant blast of herbs all but knocking you off your feet. Dressed like scruffy locals, and hopefully unlike normal tourists, we wandered around trying to identify the different fruit and herbs on display with the stallholders as eager to sell their wares as at home.
But one thing had us completely stumped. Sandwiched between Indian ginger and galangal [Thai ginger] was, I assumed due to its location, a type of ginger but what I can only describe as looking like a dead witchetty grub.
Noticing our puzzled look, the young stallholder rubbed her cheek and seemed to be painting a picture in an effort to explain what it was. We know we should have used a translator but we think they get in the way; they advertise the fact that you’re a novice as well as a tourist, while spending more time on the trip’s benefit for them rather than you – or perhaps we’ve just been unlucky.
Having established it was called kunyit or kamin, we bought some and hoped someone could tell us what it was. It was turmeric, fresh turmeric, once used for make-up and as a paint, hence the stallholder rubbing her cheek and painting a picture, as well as colouring the tunics of Buddhist monks.
But why was it for sale in the vegetable market? We discovered that not only does it have many given names from different languages but there is more than one type including red and white varieties.
To describe the smell of powdered turmeric bought from a UK supermarket, or even where we live in Spain, and it’s quite easy to agree with the description of it being musty or even of decaying wood. But that’s because it’s gone off, it’s old and no wonder it’s known more for its colouring properties than its taste. In Spain it’s often used as a colour substitute to colour paella mimicking the colour of saffron but is tasteless.
If there is one spice that deserves to be bought and tried fresh it has to be fresh turmeric, vibrant in both colour and taste like a milder version of galangal. It’s most definitely a ginger with beautiful fragrance followed by a warming of the throat and mild nasal hit, no musty smell, or woody taste at all.
If you have to buy powdered try local ethnic shops that have a higher turnover so it will be fresher, or a reputable supplier that understands these spices – not the supermarket.
The perfect dish for me, and those who don’t much care for cauliflower, is to slice it raw, thinly, fry quickly until browned in ghee or good olive oil with some mustard seeds, allowing them to crackle before removing, plus some fresh, brined or powdered (if you must) turmeric and serve.
Alternatively this mixture can be used as a great topping and it goes well with the rich flavours. For example by arranging crisp slices of pan fried black pudding in a pre-baked savoury pastry case, topping it with the mix and then adding egg and milk whisked together (three eggs to a pint of milk) and cooking for approx 45 minutes at 150ºC or until set, it is a perfect dish just needing to be brushed with good olive oil before serving.
We use it in soup and salads as well as pickles – it’s the colour as well as taste in Piccalilli – and chutneys as well as in its more natural home of ethnic dishes where it is a main ingredient in curry powders and, because we are working on a range of savoury desserts, puddings too.
So our number one spice then apparently not only cures all from cuts and burns to colds and cancers but tastes amazing too. Its versatility throughout the menu is unrivalled from savoury to sweet, from hot dishes to cold and is almost the perfect spice.
Unfortunately it also lives up to its reputation as a colourant. It stains in fact everything, from chopping boards to counter tops, white shirts and oven cloths. If you get it on your fingers or your whites or an apron you will be forgiven for referring to turmeric as just another bloody colourant.
• Edwin and Trudy Cheeseman run the Thieves Kitchen Consultancy in the UK and in Spain. For further details, contact [email protected]
Words - Edwin Cheeseman
However, the resulting spice turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin is worth mentioning briefly because of the wide range of reported benefits, some of which may surprise chefs.
It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in disinfecting cuts and burns. It speeds up wound healing and assists in remodelling damaged skin and may help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.
It is reportedly a natural liver detoxifier and may prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease by removing amyloyd plaque build up in the brain. It may even prevent many forms of cancer. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for different kinds of arthritis, working as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects. It has also long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression.
It makes you wonder if you should you keep it in the medicine cabinet or the kitchen?
On a recent visit to Malaysia, as is our normal practice, we enquired about the location of the local commercial food market – the equivalent I suppose of our own Billingsgate fish, Smithfield meat and Covent Garden vegetable markets in the UK, but here it’s all in one place.
At 3am we informed our driver we wanted to go to the market to which he replied that the “tourist market not open until 8am”. When we explained that the market we wanted to visit was the commercial one just outside the city he said we were crazy – “you really not want go that place”.
On arrival you could understand his concerns, as it really was a farm, a feedlot, a slaughterhouse, a butchers and market stall for all things edible in one place. One advantage was that everyone seemed to be at least a foot shorter than the average European making visible access at least much easier than usual.
Talking about food chain or food miles, this was more of a link than a chain and miles became centimetres. Live fish in plastic kiddies’ paddling pools and live birds and frogs in cages, with the already high temperatures, the close proximity of product and buyers combined, the smell was quite overpowering. The vegetable and herb section was another matter altogether, with the fragrant blast of herbs all but knocking you off your feet. Dressed like scruffy locals, and hopefully unlike normal tourists, we wandered around trying to identify the different fruit and herbs on display with the stallholders as eager to sell their wares as at home.
But one thing had us completely stumped. Sandwiched between Indian ginger and galangal [Thai ginger] was, I assumed due to its location, a type of ginger but what I can only describe as looking like a dead witchetty grub.
Noticing our puzzled look, the young stallholder rubbed her cheek and seemed to be painting a picture in an effort to explain what it was. We know we should have used a translator but we think they get in the way; they advertise the fact that you’re a novice as well as a tourist, while spending more time on the trip’s benefit for them rather than you – or perhaps we’ve just been unlucky.
Having established it was called kunyit or kamin, we bought some and hoped someone could tell us what it was. It was turmeric, fresh turmeric, once used for make-up and as a paint, hence the stallholder rubbing her cheek and painting a picture, as well as colouring the tunics of Buddhist monks.
But why was it for sale in the vegetable market? We discovered that not only does it have many given names from different languages but there is more than one type including red and white varieties.
To describe the smell of powdered turmeric bought from a UK supermarket, or even where we live in Spain, and it’s quite easy to agree with the description of it being musty or even of decaying wood. But that’s because it’s gone off, it’s old and no wonder it’s known more for its colouring properties than its taste. In Spain it’s often used as a colour substitute to colour paella mimicking the colour of saffron but is tasteless.
If there is one spice that deserves to be bought and tried fresh it has to be fresh turmeric, vibrant in both colour and taste like a milder version of galangal. It’s most definitely a ginger with beautiful fragrance followed by a warming of the throat and mild nasal hit, no musty smell, or woody taste at all.
If you have to buy powdered try local ethnic shops that have a higher turnover so it will be fresher, or a reputable supplier that understands these spices – not the supermarket.
The perfect dish for me, and those who don’t much care for cauliflower, is to slice it raw, thinly, fry quickly until browned in ghee or good olive oil with some mustard seeds, allowing them to crackle before removing, plus some fresh, brined or powdered (if you must) turmeric and serve.
Alternatively this mixture can be used as a great topping and it goes well with the rich flavours. For example by arranging crisp slices of pan fried black pudding in a pre-baked savoury pastry case, topping it with the mix and then adding egg and milk whisked together (three eggs to a pint of milk) and cooking for approx 45 minutes at 150ºC or until set, it is a perfect dish just needing to be brushed with good olive oil before serving.
We use it in soup and salads as well as pickles – it’s the colour as well as taste in Piccalilli – and chutneys as well as in its more natural home of ethnic dishes where it is a main ingredient in curry powders and, because we are working on a range of savoury desserts, puddings too.
So our number one spice then apparently not only cures all from cuts and burns to colds and cancers but tastes amazing too. Its versatility throughout the menu is unrivalled from savoury to sweet, from hot dishes to cold and is almost the perfect spice.
Unfortunately it also lives up to its reputation as a colourant. It stains in fact everything, from chopping boards to counter tops, white shirts and oven cloths. If you get it on your fingers or your whites or an apron you will be forgiven for referring to turmeric as just another bloody colourant.
• Edwin and Trudy Cheeseman run the Thieves Kitchen Consultancy in the UK and in Spain. For further details, contact [email protected]
Words - Edwin Cheeseman