Turmeric

Turmeric has a peppery taste, and it is a popular spice in Indian, Middle Eastern, Moroccan, East African, and Caribbean cuisines. It is significant in Chinese medicine, Indian Ayurvedic practices, and Arabic Islamic Unani medicine, and the root has been used to dye the robes of monks and priests a distinctive yellow throughout southeast Asia for centuries. Turmeric plays a significant  role in a wide variety of cultural and religious rituals throughout India such as the pre-wedding haldi ceremony and Bhandara festival.  The root is consumed fresh, dried, or boiled. It is most commonly dried, ground into a powder and used to flavor or color food a deep orange-yellow. It is particularly common in Indian curry spice mixes as well as the Moroccan spice mix called ‘ras al hanut.’ Lebanese cuisine includes sfouf, a turmeric cake.  In the Caribbean it is used in stews and rice dishes. It has been a common natural food coloring agent in the U.S. in preserved pickles, condiments, and other processed foods labeled as “natural yellow 3.” In more recent decades, American and European consumers have paid greater attention to the nutritional and medicinal qualities of turmeric, and ground turmeric root known as ‘cucurmin’ is taken in capsule form as well as in a sweetened beverage referred to as “golden milk.”