America has a long history using and enjoying the spicy ginger root. Ginger use was well established in Europe by the time the Colonists came to North America. The plant is not native here, but was growing in Jamaica by the 1550s. The exact origin of the plant is not known, but probably was first cultivated in Southern China and in India well before it reached the Western world. Around 3000 B.C., Arab traders started bringing ginger to Egypt's port city of Alexandria, but they were secretive about their sources. Between 2800 and 2400 B.C. the first recipe for gingerbread was written down by a baker on the Greek island of Rhodes.

Would you like to know how to grow your own fresh ginger? Good....here's how! Ginger can be started from a small piece of a plump, fresh rhizome that has at least one eye or bud. Place this piece in a small pot filled with good quality potting soil. Place the root on top a small hollowed out space in the middle of the soil, and cover very lightly. Keep it in a warm place (the top of your refrigerator would be wonderful) until the green stalks emerge. Misting it will greatly improve its growth. Then transplant the ginger into a pot which is at least 12 inches in diameter. The soil should again be of good quality and drainage. Place the growing ginger about 2 inches deep. Fertilize and water regularly during the growing season. It will need lots of extra potassium. In the summer, place the pot outdoors in a partially shaded spot, and move it back indoors before the first frost. The first harvest can come in about 5 months from the young plant or wait about 10 months and dig it up after the top has died back (it is a deciduous plant).

If you don't want to plant your own ginger, here are tips to purchasing fresh ginger. Select smooth, firm roots. Store the root (uncleaned and dry) wrapped in a paper towel and enclosed in a plastic ziplock bag in the top shelf of the refrigerator. Or freeze the ginger root. Pieces of ginger root can also be preserved in a jar of sherry, rice wine, or sake in the refrigerator. To use the ginger in your favorite recipes, slice off just what you need, peel away the brown outer layer and chop, grate, or slice the fibrous flesh. I love to use it in my special pork-fried-rice recipe. E-mail me if you would like this recipe. Here's a wonderful fresh ginger snap cookie recipe to make for Santa! These cookies should keep him from having motion sickness as he flys through the skies rushing to deliver all those toys!

FRESH-GINGER SNAPS
3/4/ cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup finely shredded peeled fresh gingerroot
2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
1/4/ cup light molasses
1 3/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup crystallized ginger slices

In a large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat 1/2 cup sugar, the butter, gingerroot and its juice, and molasses until well mixed. Wrap dough and refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm.

Meanwhile, in cup, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the gound ginger and nutmeg until well mixed; set aside. Cut crystallized ginger into 1/2 inch long slivers; set aside.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Divide dough into 52 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Butter the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass and dip in ginger-sugar mixture. using sugared glass, press balls of dough carefully until they are about 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick. Recoat glass after each cookie pressing. Insert a few ginger slivers in center of each cookie.

Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool cookies on wire racks. Leave some out for Santa, and store the rest in airtight containers. [from Dec. 1996 Country Living Magazine]