The whole and ground form of cleaned, dried rhizomes of Zingiber officinale.The rhizomes are off white to pale yellow in color, with strong lemon flavor, and characteristic pungent taste.Ginger is one of the earliest spices known in Western Europe. Although often called “ginger root” it is actually a rhizome. It is available in whole raw root (fresh ginger) and dried roots.The ginger plant requires a consistently warm and moist climate, brilliant sunshine, and heavy rainfall. The harvest beginsnine months to a year after planting, when the stalks begin to wither. The rhizomes are twisted and dug up carefully with a hoe. These ‘hands’ are then cleaned, washed, scraped, boiled, peeled carefully with specially designed knives and dried in the sunlight for about eight days.

Ground form of Turmeric is the rhizome of a ginger-like plant. It is usually available ground, as a bright yellow, fine powder.It is an ancient spice, a native of South East Asia, used from antiquity as dye and a condiment. Turmeric is in fact one of the important spices. In many languages turmeric is simply named as “yellow root The whole turmeric is a tuberous rhizome, with a rough, segmented skin.The rhizome is yellowish-brown with a dull orange interior that looks bright yellow when cured and prepared for the market by being boiled, cleaned, dried in the sun for about ten days, and polished. During the curing process the product loses about three-quarters of its original weight. Cured turmeric is sorted into ‘fingers’, ‘rounds’, and ‘splits’.