Hello lovelies! Today is a wonderful, sunny day where I am. It’s still very cold and very… umm… February, but it is always so nice to see the sun! It does wonders for my mood. I am now reading The Great Gatsby for the first time, and actually finding it much more engrossing than I’d expected, despite the occasional deterioration of the narrative into sexist, racist, and classist comments. I am finding Fitzgerald’s sporadic lack of understanding for these issues surprising, since he is so obviously insightful at other times. Perhaps I’m blaming the words on the characters on Fitzgerald, which isn’t really fair…
Anyway, I guess one becomes bothered by these things most especially when one has just finished reading a book of cultural criticism by bell hooks, who certainly has no tolerance for the intolerance of others. It is still a good read. On to tea!

A few days ago we made a big pot of turmeric-ginger tea. I’ve made turmeric tea before, using powdered, dried turmeric, and even wrote about the tea and it’s health benefits here in this post. This time we used fresh turmeric and fresh ginger, and it was much better than using the dried powder. Using fresh turmeric also means that more of the potent anti-inflammatory properties of the root are preserved, making it even healthier. It’s not difficult to make, either, as long as you are able to find fresh turmeric. It looks much like fresh ginger root, except it has a smaller diameter and is bright orange (especially when cut open).

Keep in mind that turmeric stains, so be careful not to get it on anything that is very precious to you. I even find that it leaves a yellow-orange residue on the knife blade that it is cut with, so use a knife that can take a lot of scrubbing. Aside from that, it couldn’t be simpler to make. Just slice equal amounts of turmeric and ginger root (or just turmeric, if you’d prefer) and put it in a pot with several cups of water. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for ten or fifteen minutes. Pour the tea and you’ve got a mugful of sunshine-yellow, comforting warmth. I keep any leftover tea in a glass container in the fridge, and drink it diluted throughout the day with either hot or cool water. Also, I find that the turmeric and ginger can be simmered twice. The second pot will not be quite as strong, but is still nice to drink.

I do hope you try turmeric tea, either the powdered or fresh sort. It’s a nice change from ginger tea, and considering all the health problems that are caused (directly or indirectly) by inflammation, it surely can’t hurt. The flavour of this brew is earthy, and spicy from the ginger. It is also good for digestion and caffeine-free, of course.

What is your hot drink of choice?

love,
meg

Tags: Favourite Ingredients, Tea

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 6:05 pm and is filed under Tea. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.