The much loved spice is firmly rooted in our odour neutralisers of choice
Let’s take a second to appreciate just how versatile ginger is.
Think about it – from Nordic Christmas biscuits to your Friday night chicken tikka masala, ginger sneaks its way in to a whole host of tasty treats. It’s great pickled with sushi, steeped in mulled wine, mixed in Chinese dumplings, turned in to beer and makes a mean tea-time dunking biscuit. So what is this wonder-root?
Part of the reason why ginger is such a flavour-chameleon is because it contains very high level of the naturally occurring chemical (and aptly named), gingerol. Similar to the chemical capsaicin, which gives chillies their spice, gingerol has a heat that lends itself perfectly to savoury dishes. However, heat up and cook the gingerol enough and it breaks down in to ‘zingerone’, a chemical that is less potent and much sweeter smelling. Similarly, dehydrate gingerol in to powder and it turns in to ‘shogaol’ – twice as pungent as fresh ginger but with half the heat – ideal for baked treats.
When the rhizome of the ginger plant is distilled, a very strong essential oil is extracted which is packed with gingerol and several other powerful anti-oxidants and compounds that are famed for having a number of medicinal qualities. Recently there has been a wealth of media attention about ginger and the research which has started to suggest its potential to fight inflammation and affect cancer cells in the body. Traditionally, however, it is known for easing nausea, treating skin and eradicating bad breath and odours.
Whilst the jury is still out on the true medicinal potential of ginger oil, you can’t argue that it does a superb job at breaking down other smells and replacing it with its own spicy scent. Just walk past a few restaurants at night and you will almost certainly smell ginger way before any other scents are detected.
At DOG-ABOUT-TOWN we have carefully blended natural ginger essential oil with complimentary oils and perfumes to make sure the odour neutralising power of ginger is harnessed without it becoming too dominant. Paired with the scent of sweet oranges, black pepper and a whole blend of other fragrances and essential oils, ginger features in the warm and cosy BY THE FIRESIDE fragrance.
Comments