Oh So Colson

I’d forgotten just how delicious ginger is whether it’s crystallised, fresh or in a powdered form. There’s nothing so soothing as a cup of tea that’s made from freshly finely cut ginger over which has been poured hot water with some honey. 

I had some delicious ginger shortbread yesterday accompanied by a delicate green tea. I met a friend of mine at a tea house. She’d ordered the cookies and I tried them when I arrived. Mmm.. Anyhow tasting them reminded me of the vast quantity of root ginger that I have freezer. I’ve had to do this since I had bought some to use but I’ve not been able to use all of it before it started to sprout! So, I broke off this bit that was sprouting and shoved the rest in the freezer. Now, I’ve a new plant that’s growing alongside, in water in a jam jar sitting along side my two poor African violets which are, fortunately, slowly recovering from a blast of cold icy winter air. I made the mistake of leaving them in the draft of an open window when I had to open my windows since I’d set off the fire alarm by mistake when cooking one evening! There wasn’t a fire but my fire alarm is very sensitive and an increase in something or something falling on the burner sets off the fire alarm. I’m hoping that I didn’t kill the sprouting ginger root! I’ve an abundance of root ginger and I’ve got to find a way of using it. I could go the usual route and make gingerbread, ginger cookies, or with honey while poaching pears or in a tomato sauce with the usual garlic, olive oil and chopped onion. Perhaps I should put a piece in some green tea next time I make some…or maybe I should make some Chai from scratch rather than use those horrid sachets of Chai tea that I’ve got in my cupboard when I thought that I’d at least try it. That’s a possibility but I’ve an abundance of green tea with ginger or ginger and peach tea. So, now I’m on a quest to use the root ginger in my freezer since who knows how long it will last there. Perhaps I should make ginger madeleines….or even fresh ginger cake that’s so moist that it collapses in between your fingers. Mmmm..I think that I’ll pick something where the ginger flavours lingers the longest. 

I don’t understand why cream had to be added to a recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara? It’s a subtle combination of pasta, eggs, pancetta with its flavours enhanced, whilst still hot, with grated Parmesan cheese! Nigella Lawson’s recipe in “How to Eat. The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food” suggests that cream added but that the number of eggs should be reduced if cream is going to be added the egg and pancetta mixture. But my question is why add the cream since it only makes the subtle flavours in this dish disappear? Cream changes both the texture and the resulting flavour combinations. It makes the flavours flatten. Why? What is she trying to achieve…what is she trying to do? I can only presume that she’s a huge fan of cream and doesn’t mind consuming additional fat. Urgh! Or maybe she’s mixed up this recipe with ‘Sugo di Piselli, Prosciutto Cotto, e Panna’? Ah! What was on her mind?