What was best known as the yellow in your mustard, turmeric is one of the fastest-rising trends of the season, according to the latest Google Food Trends report.
While the root typically is found in its powdered form, fresh turmeric -- also known as yellow ginger -- is finding its way into produce departments across the country. According to Google Food Trends, the functional ingredient’s search popularity makes it a rising star, up 56% over the previous report.
So, why FRESH turmeric?
For starters, it has a brighter color and stronger flavor, says Oakley Boren, communications manager for Frieda’s Specialty Produce, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Boren says consumers don’t have to trust the purity and quality of the powdered spice turmeric when they can get it fresh and preserve it how they’d like.
“You can oven dry or dehydrate or pulverize the powder yourself,” she says. “You can also make paste with coconut oil, pickles with lemon juice, sea salt and black peppercorn, or just throw it in the freezer whole.”
Turmeric is used in stir fry, smoothies, curry, rice and steeped as a tea in milk or water. Google Trends says the associated keywords are: powder, golden milk, ground, smoothie, root, drink, juice, recipe, honey, pepper, fresh and organic.
Be careful, Boren says. Fresh turmeric can stain worse than dried. Use it grated 1 tablespoon in place of 1 teaspoon of dried.