Food Trend: Ginger

Ahhhh... ginger! I can smell the fragrant spice in my mind as I write this. It's only in my early 20s that I came to know this potent ingredient in the form of pickled ginger served alongside sushi. Of course there's always been the occasional bottle of Canada Dry or Schweppes in the fridge, but after looking at the ingredients list neither one lists the ingredient by which its called. Not even as a lowly bottom ingredient. Only high fructose corn syrup, natural flavors and a couple others make the cut.

Well, this year ginger is stepping out into the spotlight and showing up in a number of 2009 food trend lists. Preferably in drinks. "Ginger is the new Mint" according to Epicurious.com. Ginger beers and cocktails are showing up on many bar menus. And if anything holds true in the days of this recession it's that people are not cutting back on alcohol. I'm sure they're probably drinking more.

I set out to make my own homemade ginger ale and hit the jackpot! It is so much better than the bottled stuff that I may never buy it again. I did a little research and a number of recipes call for yeast and the mixture needs to sit for a couple days. This was not music to my ears, so I came up with my own quick and easy version.




Homemade Ginger Ale
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 2-liter bottle seltzer water
juice of 4 fresh limes (approximately 8 tbsp)

Add water and grated ginger to saucepan. Simmer over medium heat about 15 minutes. Strain into bowl and add ginger water back into saucepan. Over low heat dissolve sugar to create a simple syrup. Allow to cool.

For individual servings add 1/4 cup of ginger syrup to a glass with ice. Add 1 tbsp lime juice. Fill with 8 oz of seltzer water. Stir to combine and garnish with a lime wedge if desired.

Note: All ingredients can be combined into a pitcher for easy serving, but the seltzer will go flat sooner if not stored in it's tightly capped 2-liter bottle. This method is ideal if you will be serving multiple drinks at a time as the mixture will go fast.

Also, for a wonderfully refreshing cocktail add rum to taste. Enjoy!


Special thanks to Ronald for the photo I didn't get to take myself. Nice shot!