Recipe News: Hotting up: Skye Gyngell's zingy ginger recipes

Slightly oddly shaped, like fat misshapen hands, ginger originated in China before spreading to India, South-east Asia, West Africa and the Caribbean. Its very distinct flavour is not hot exactly, but nonetheless it has the ability to lend heat and freshness to dishes. Chameleon-esque, it works with almost anything – from meat and fish to fruit and vegetables.
It is also a perfect partner to the heat of fresh chillies, the sourness of tamarind or lime and the caramel sweetness of palm sugar. Added to just one or two spices, such as cardamom and mustard seeds, and finished with a glug or two of fish sauce, this versatile ingredient can very quickly give you the base for a simple but delicious curry.

Ginger's sprightly, lively flavour is a particularly wonderful addition to food cooked during these cold winter months. An explosion of pure, unadulterated, zingy heat in the mouth.

When buying fresh ginger, the skin should be tight, not wrinkly and soft, and it should snap crisply when bent and ooze a sharp, watery juice that is capable of making the eye squint with its heady, powerful flavour. A spice indeed in the true sense of the word: exotic, warm, and fragrant – and utterly particular in flavour.