Origin | Candied
stem ginger | Planting ginger |
Harvest time | Quality
control | Transport
Origin
Ginger is in fact the rootstock of the ginger plant (Zingiber officinale).
It grows throughout the year and thrives in a damp, tropical/subtropical
climate. It originates from Southeast Asia and has been cultivated for
3,000 years. It is no longer found as a wild plant.
The ancient Greek already used ginger as an ingredient for ginger bread, which
was often given as a gift and used as a gesture of respect. In the Middle Ages,
ginger was used as a remedy against stomach disorders and was as valuable as
black pepper. In China, it is still used today as a remedy against many disorders
such as rheumatism, malaria and colds.
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Contrary to other tropical spices, root ginger is an easy spice to transport.
In the early days, it was taken to the West Indies for cultivation. Then in
1547, it was exported from Jamaica to Spain, after which the Portuguese took
it to South America for setting up a ginger industry.
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| The Fi-Ji Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, east to northeast of Australia. It takes a 3.5-hour flight from Brisbane. |
Nowadays ginger is grown worldwide. The biggest producers of candied ginger
are China, Australia and the Fi-Ji Islands. Fi-Ji stem
ginger stands out for its soft texture and mild flavour, and is therefore
appreciated by a larger number of people.
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| The smallest separate piece is old seed (no longer useable) and the large piece is the stem ginger. |
Candied
stem ginger
Young root ginger, also called stem ginger, is required for the production
of candied stem ginger. This is because young ginger doesn’t
contain any fibres, which is essential for the production of good quality
candied ginger. The older the root ginger, the more fibrous is becomes.
After the farmers transported the harvested ginger to the factories,
the latter carry out a strict control for fibres. The farmers are aware
of this, but on the other hand have an interest in producing the best
yield possible.
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| Stem ginger harvest time |
planting
De
gember wordt in augustus september geplant. Dit gebeurt door van een
oude wortel een stukje af te breken en om de 20 cm in de grond te stoppen
in rijen die 60 cm uit elkaar staan. Hieraan groeit onder de grond de
nieuwe wortel en komen er her en der grove grassprieten uit de grond.
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Ginger thrives in a tropical climate with plenty of rain, sunshine and little wind. During the ginger season, approximately 11 million litres of water are required per hectare to produce good quality ginger. (1100 litres per m²). By comparison, average annual rainfall in The Netherlands is 750 litres per m². Most of the rain in Fi-Ji falls during the monsoon, when the ginger has been planted. The yield per hectare is approximately 35 tons. |
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| Ginger harvest. As much soil as possible is removed. The farmers then take their stem ginger to the factories. |
Harvest time
Young stem ginger is harvested from February until the end of March/beginning
of April. If ginger is left in the ground for too long, it grows tougher
fibres. From April until the end of June, ginger is harvested for drying
(djahé) and for pressing oil. July and August are the last
months for harvesting fresh ginger and ginger for drying. The beginning
of September sees the harvest of the last ginger, which is used as seed
for the next harvest. The ginger plant is pulled from the ground by hand,
after which the leaves are removed as waste.
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| Harvested ginger ready to go to the factories |
Quality
control
Now it is time for quality control by means of random checks. After accepting
a batch, the ginger is cleaned and stored in salt water tanks. This salt
water temporarily preserves the ginger, because it is impossible for
the factory to process the whole harvest into candied ginger without
delay. Moreover, they can’t predict market demand and the dimensions
or the types of packaging.
Candying ginger in syrup is a type of preserving similar to salting (e.g. herring) and pickling (e.g. gherkins). The process starts by cleaning the root, removing the peel and cutting the ginger to size according to the specifications (cubed, shredded, sliced, etc.). The ginger is then candied, i.e. preserved in syrup.
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Transport
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| Port in Fi-Ji |
This process takes approximately ten days, after which the ginger is packed into various types of packaging for Retail, Food Service or the Industry. It is shipped by sea container via Auckland, New Zealand, to Rotterdam, The Netherlands. On arrival, the container will have finished a six-week to eight-week journey.
