Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20°C and 30°C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive (Materia Indica, 1826, Whitelaw Ainslie, M.D. M.R.A.S., via Google Books). Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes, and re-seeded from some of those rhizomes in the following season.
The rhizomes are...
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Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20°C and 30°C, and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive (Materia Indica, 1826, Whitelaw Ainslie, M.D. M.R.A.S., via Google Books). Plants are gathered annually for their rhizomes, and re-seeded from some of those rhizomes in the following season.
The rhizomes are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a spice in curries and other South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, for dyeing, and to impart color to mustard condiments. Its active ingredient is curcumin and it has a distinctly earthy, slightly bitter, slightly hot peppery flavor and a mustardy smell.
In medieval Europe, turmeric became known as Indian Saffron, since it was widely used as an alternative to the far more expensive saffron spice.
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