500px provided description: A buddy has recently been extolling the virtues of ginger. I decided to find out what it was all about and got some from a local grocery store.

They call it ginger root even though it's actually a rhizome. I don't know a rhizome from a rhinoceros but that's what I read on the internet, so I know it's true.

If you've never indulged, here's a tip: a little bit of ginger goes a long way. I grated a piece about the size of the tip of my pinkie finger and put it in my mouth. The sensation was something along the lines of a hot chili pepper and an Altoids. Not bad but not exactly subtle, either. Wowzers.

After recovering from that experiment I sliced a piece about the same size, about 5 or six dime-sized slices, and put it in a cup of boiled water. Man, is that good! I can't describe the taste. Spicy? Sweet? Deep? Mellow? It's a part of the taste spectrum I've had no conscious experience with. I'm sure I've had it in Asian dishes without being aware it was ginger. But whatever, I'm sold on ginger tea.

The neat thing about the root (or rhizome) is that it's a living thing. I guess they're treated with growth inhibitors but otherwise it's the real deal. You can soak them in water and then plant them and they'll grow. I'm going to leave that project alone since I have a 100% success rate at plant killing. [#plant ,#ginger ,#spice ,#rhizome ,#ginger root ,#Zingiber officinale]