After writing the post on Candied Wild Ginger, I couldn’t help but make some for myself. Partly because I am a perfectionist, and had to make sure the recipe worked properly, but also because the thought of making another mouth-watering batch was too hard to resist.
50 Grams of Wild Ginger Whole pieces.
I also wanted to see exactly how much I would end up with if I used a 50 gram package like the standard size I sell in my shop. It wouldn’t hurt sales to show folks the result. What these dry but fragrant sticks can transform into with a bit of kitchen Alchemy. It does yield more than one would assume.
Basically 50 grams dried Wild Ginger gave me 250 grams of reconstituted material, and once candied, the quantity increased further. I also made a batch from 100 grams dried Wild ginger. Unfortunately I didn’t hide it well enough, it slowly diminished, a bit, daily, almost hourly, so I couldn’t get an accurate photo of how much Candied Wild Ginger 100 grams gave me.
Wild Ginger sitting and becoming one with its sugar. not being well hidden, it shrank in quantity daily.
I don’t begrudge anyone in the house,(Currently 5 roommates), it really is a challenge to walk by and not take just one little piece that no one will notice.
Candied Wild Ginger after boiling in sugar syrup, draining well before covering in sugar
If you figure everyone does it a couple of times a day,,, well you can guess the result. I am happy it is such a success and that I at least got an exact photo record of how much one gets from 50 grams. Needless to say the recipes were perfect. It takes about one full cup of white sugar to coat each 50 grams, and after packing all the Candied Wild Ginger in a nice jar, you add the leftover sugar to your syrup and give it a 10 minute boil before bottling it up. There is an elegance there that appeals to me.
Candied Wild Ginger and Pancake Syrup from 50 grams dried Wild Ginger. Yumm.
P.S. For all of you in the physical ,(Hamilton Ontario Canada) neighborhood, tomorrow (Saturday), morning from 9:00 AM till Noon I will be at the Apothecary’s Garden at the Teaching Gardens in Churchill Park, along with anyone who can make it for our first Saturday Workparty of the season. We will be opening the gardens for the season, preparing for the plant giveaway, and making plans for how to best take care of the “Plant Lovers Garden” till we can organize an official renovation with the city. Hope to see you all there.
Dan
Another wonderful post…now I just have to see if it is possible to get hold of here in Tassie Australia 🙂
I wonder?
I do have lots here. If you would like to cover the postage, I would be happy to send you enough for a batch of Candied Wild Ginger. Or perhaps we could barter? I am sure you have some very cool tasty and smelly things down in your end of the planet that aren’t easily available here. I am big on smelly things, but open to suggestions.
Anything except Tea Tree oil! (UGH)!
Let me know, and thank you so much for your interest in my blog, and for your Likes!!
Dan
Hi Dan, We have Tasmanian native pepper berry, Lemon Myrtle, lots of other spicy and hot things but the pepper berry (Tasmannia lanceolata) might be something that you are interested in for both herbal use as well as planting in the garden. It grows quite easily from seed :).
Hi. The Tasmanian Native Pepper sounds perfect!! I did a little bit of research on it online. I would love to try it! In some ways quite comparable to the Wild Ginger. Aromatic, and interesting as a culinary spice. I would be happy to swap the same weight if that works for you. How much Wild Ginger would you like?
Dan
This is a great idea Dan. Let me know how much you would like and we will have to tee up where to send them :).
Sounds good. I was going to ask you the same thing! How much?
I will probably play with your Tasmanian Pepper in recipes and make a perfume tincture. So any where from 50 grams to 100 would work for me. I figure your partner will probably enjoy, if not indulge in the Candied Wild Ginger so you would need at least 50grams and in case it is a “hit” in your home, 100 Grams might be ideal. I think you should have 100 Grams and I will try 100 Grams of your native Tasmannja Lanceolata. I am assuming they are comparable in price? Shall i forward you my address? And who should i address your package to? Narf77?
:-). Here is mine.
Dan Riegler
208 Macnab St. N.
Hamilton Ontario
L8R-2M4
Canada.
Dan
Hi, noticed I had left the conversation in the air. So let me know, if you would like to barter 100 grams Tasmanian Pepper Berry for 100 gram Canadian Wild Ginger, just send me your address anytime and I will pop it in the post. And if you do try the Violet Syrup recipe come Spring, let me know how it turns out.
Cheers
Dan
Got to find the violets for the syrup first. Lots of wild roses here and violets do tend to grow like weeds…I just have to find somewhere that they feel happy (not here apparently 😉 ). I will source some pepperberries locally (to give you the best chance of being able to grow a few, they do grow quite easily) and will let you know when I have them. I could head up a mountain someplace and pick some myself but at the moment I have NO idea where to start. Might do a bit of research about it and go hunting. I love horticultural “hunts” I always come back with some pretty wonderful plant material 🙂
I know what you mean about the hunts.
You never know what you will come back with, but rarely come back empty handed.!!
We have some weird things here in Tasmania. Did you know that a lot of our endemic shrubs and conifers are very similar to those in Chile? It goes a long way to making it possible to believe that Tassie and Chile were once linked together in Gondwanaland. We have lots of edibles here as well including a native leek. I am off on the 15th of May with a friend to take part in a native bush food workshop about the native edibles available here and what we can plant in our food forests. Its all free and lunch is provided and I am going to take heaps of photos and notes and will share it in an upcoming post.
Fran 🙂
Sounds exiting!! Free lunch too! Will have or check that I am following you! Sounds like a lush and fascinating countryside you have. The flora is surprising. We don’t hear about it much. I will have to do some research on Tasmania!
Dan
What goodies! And what a case of the Shrinking Wild Ginger to tickle the nostrils of Monsieur Poirot. Hope you had a great Saturday at the gardens.
Yes. Was a good start!! The right kind of people to make a difference.