Lemon Grass

[cymbopogon citratus]

This handsome plant with a clear smell and taste of lemon is widely found throughout Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian cooking employs the use of its base and the lower shoots and this lends a fresh and characteristically aromatic taste to many Thai, Indonesian and Malay dishes. Oriental shops sell the dried, powdered and also the fresh varieties, commonly known as its Indonesian name, sereh. It is easy to grow as a houseplant, just put a stalk with some bits of roots, and pop it into a pot of water. Roots will develop very quickly, after which you can shift in into soil.

Common knowledge about the lemon grass

• Native to tropical Asia but is also cultivated in Africa, South America, Australia, Florida and California
  
• When grown in sandy soil, it produces a higher content of essential oil
  
• It can be used in whole, sliced or pounded into a paste together with other ingredients
  Whole or sliced lemon grass is used in clear soups and the paste in stews
  Avoid chewing on it as it remains fibrous even after cooking and it goes well with garlic, shallots, chillies and coriander
  
• Used to be prescribed to help with flatulence as well as a sedative
  
• The essential oil, on the other hand, is used to make perfumes

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Fennel

[Foeniculum vulgare]

The fennel's shoots were valued by the Romans as a vegetable and they added the seeds to sauces for meats. Pliny, a historian believed that the fennel was able to strengthen eyesight. Later herbalists further endorsed this belief.

Do you know?

• Fennel is indigenous to the Mediterranean region but is also grown in many temperate countries. Germany, Italy, France, Russia, the Middle East and India cultivate fennel for exporting.
  
• Fennel is used with roast pork by the Italians; grounded with nigella and added to flavour bread by the Iraqi; in vegetarian cooking and breath freshening paans, chewed in its candied form after meals by the Indians and as a traditional seasoning for fish, to flavour pickles, sauerkraut and herring by the Europeans.
  
• It is used in medicines for shortness of breath and wheezing and is also believed to help with tummy upsets and toothaches.

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Ginger

[Zingiber officinale]

A plant about 1 m tall with narrow pointed leaves and small yellow, purple-lipped flowers, ginger is known for the ability to warm people up and has been cultivated and used in Asia for over 3000 years. It is one of the oldest and most important spices. As rhizomes are easy to transport, it ginger became one of the first Oriental spice to be widely used in other continents around the world. Though a native of the Southeast Asian tropical rainforests, it is now also grown in the West Indies, Hawaii, Africa and northern Australia. The largest producers are India and China, but the beat ginger comes from Jamaica.

Know your spice

• Ginger has a warming aroma tinged with a woody note and a rich, sweet tang. Its taste is hot and also a trifle biting.

• Fresh ginger is often used with garlic in Asian countries while both dried and fresh ones are familiar in India. Plays a key role in curry powder and other spice blends.
  
• Ginger is also commonly used in biscuits, puddings, pickles and cakes. Ginger beer is a very well known drink now whereas ginger was added to wine in the past to give it flavour.

• Ginger is extensively used as a digestive aid and tea brewed with ginger is warming and is said to improve blood circulation. Besides these, it also relieves travel sickness. Ginger crystals have the same effect too.