As early as the time of Confucius, the Chinese have grown and used ginger as both a medicine and a food. In ancient Asia, as today, it was valued for its ability to build fire, both as a digestive and as an aphrodisiac.

The Maharata, a Hindu text written around 4 BCE, recorded the use of ginger as an ingredient in stewed meat dishes.

The Kama Sutra goes on to suggest ginger as an effective means for arousing sexual energies.

In ancient Auryvedic practice, ginger was often called the “universal medicine” because it’s generally good for all the doshas although it has special affinity for the kapha dosha. Even the Koran includes ginger in the feasts of Paradise.

In China, the poorer classes test food by tossing a slice of frsh ginger into their cooking pot. They claim that if the root turns a dark colour, the food is bad.

Marco Polo mentions ginger in his unbeleiavble narrative of the 13^th century. The Spaniards brought the first ginger plants to the new world in the early part of the 16^th century. The finest roots today come from Jamaica.