When it comes to ginger, personal taste often trumps strict precision, say our experts as they get to the root of the issue
Why do so many recipes state the amount of fresh ginger in “thumbs” or centimetres. With it being so variable in shape, why don’t you use weight?
Nick, by email
Let’s gather some of the Guardian food troops and ask them to explain themselves. First up in front of the class is our own perfectionist, Felicity Cloake: “That’s a very good question, and I don’t think there is a very good answer,” she says. “Maybe it’s just convention, because sometimes it feels a bit fussy to give a precise weight for the likes of ginger, onions and other staples if you’re not, say, Heston Blumenthal.” Often, it doesn’t really matter that much, either: “If you give a precise weight, people will perhaps think it’s very important and worry if they’re a few grams out,” she adds. In other words, if Nick were to use a smidge more (or less) ginger than Cloake in, say, her dal, it’s unlikely to make or break it.
Cloake’s fellow columnist Georgina Hayden agrees: “Unlike measuring a ratio of risotto rice to stock, or making a cake, the typical recipes I use ginger in, such as curries, don’t have to be precise,” she says. “After all, cooking should be as instinctive as possible, rather than relying on digital scales.” However, Nick is right in that ginger does vary hugely in shape, Cloake says: “If it was a very thick piece, or it wasn’t thumb-shaped, I’d cut it so the cumulative flesh of the ginger was roughly the same as the cumulative flesh of a thumb. You’re just trying to give a rough amount, without being too prescriptive. But he’s right, we should probably move to grams.”
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