I’m sure we’ve all used ground turmeric from the spice jar often in our lives but I’d never seen it fresh.  I was given a few pieces yesterday and honestly, I didn’t know what to do with it.  I’m not one to leave anything untried so I turned to my trusted Twitter friends for advice.

It seems that I’m not alone.  Marni & Raphe of Kensington Kitchen haven’t see fresh turmeric in the flesh either.  Alas, I didn’t feel so gastronomically alone.  Here’s what it looks like.  Isn’t that orange color wild?

The first bit of information I learned when looking it up on the net was “always wear gloves and don’t put it in anything that can stain, like plastic.”  That doesn’t scare me.  I’ve made pickled beets before and had red fingers for days.  I thought it made me look “cheffy”.

Shirley Lum of A Taste of the World suggested I plant one of the roots in a pot and grow some more!  So I’ve done that already.  Apparently turmeric grows in a similar fashion to ginger and more ginger is grown here on the Sunshine Coast of Australia that just about anywhere in the world.  I should be lucky with my pot of turmeric. Shirley also recommends adding slices of fresh turmeric when I cook rice.

I received another tweet from Genevie Jacobs suggested using turmeric on warm, buttered basmati rice or any Indian dish or curried “anything”.

Finally, Emma Gardiner-Deans from SheGoes.com.au had a suggestion that started me salivating before I finished reading her advice.  “Pound it up with some garlic and ginger in a mortar and pestle and use it as a curry base with coconut cream and kaffir lime.”  Doesn’t that sound good?

So, I’ve got some chicken and some coconut cream and I even have 3 kaffir lime leaves so I’m off to cook.  Hopefully I’ll remember to take photos.  Have you ever meant to take photos but got caught up in the moment and only realized later that you missed your moment?  I do that way too often.  I’m heading to Sydney soon for a food styling class so maybe that will put me in a better frame of mind.  It also means the family eats cold food but that’s a small price to pay for my pleasure I think.  heh.