Candied Ginger

Historical Candied Ginger

“’There is a gift for the boy in one of the chests. Some candied ginger. He was always fond of it.’ Illyrio sounded oddly sad.” -A Dance with Dragons

Modern Candied Ginger

Thoughts:

Rustic, simple, and quite sweet, the historical candied ginger is as wonderful straight as it is added to tea. The texture appears to be quite hard, but dissolves and crumbles nicely in the mouth. Despite the relatively small amount of ginger, the finished Georgian candies have a wonderful zip to them, without the same overpowering ginger as actual slices.

Quite their opposite, the modern recipe produces candied ginger that will set one’s mouth on fire. They are the more easily recognizable candied ginger that one can find in many stores, but I’ve never encountered any with this much bite.

Personally, I preferred the more mild gingeriness of the older recipe, although true ginger fans will love the modern.

Georgian Candied Ginger Recipe

Beat two pounds of fine loaf sugar, put one pound in a tossing pan with as much water as will dissolve it, with one ounce of race ginger grated fine. Stir them well together over a very slow fire till the sugar begins to boil, then stir in the other pound and keep stirring it till it grows thick, Then take it off the fire and drop it in cakes upon earthen dishes. Set them in a warm place to dry and they will look white and be very hard and brittle. -The Experienced English Housekeeper, 1769

Cook’s Note: I’ve halved the original recipe. It will still make a large batch of candies, approximately 30-40 candy discs.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sugar
water, about 1/4 cup
1/2 oz. grated ginger

Boil half the sugar in just a splash of water, with the grated ginger. When it comes to a boil, add the other half of the sugar. Stir until the whole mixture thickens. You may need to add the whole 1/4 cup of water to maintain a smooth, spoonable texture.

After about 3-4 minutes, remove from heat, and spoon the mixture into small rounds on your prepared baking sheet.

Modern Candied Ginger Recipe

Ingredients:

a large fresh ginger root, about 5″ long
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup more for dusting

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment. Peel the ginger root and slice into rounds about 1/8″ thick. Put these and the water into a saucepan, and cook over medium-high heat for around 20-30 minutes, or until the ginger is tender. Keep an eye on the water level. To this same pan, add the sugar, turn the heat down to medium, and continue to cook. After about 5 minutes, turn off the heat. Fish out the ginger slices, allowing the excess syrup to drip off. Toss these with fresh sugar until they are coated, and place on the cooling rack to harden. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the syrup, as it is a wonderful addition to cocktails and tea.

Magister Illyrio’s Dubious Mushrooms

“Mushrooms,” the magister announced, as the smell wafted up. “Kissed with garlic and bathed in butter. I am told the taste is exquisite. Have one, my friend. Have two.” -A Dance with Dragons

Black Mushrooms, take 2

Our Thoughts:

This dish proved to be more of an adventure than we anticipated.

We looked in several markets for black mushrooms, without success. Then, brilliance. I went to our local Asian supermarket, and cast about until I found an entire aisle filled with dried mushrooms. This, surely, was the perfect place to obtain suitably sketchy mushrooms. The winning bag reads, “Superior Quality Dried Fungus”, and beat out both the “AAA Dried Fungus” and the merely “High Quality Dried Fungus”.

Having obtained my dubious black mushrooms, I returned home to experiment.

They were horrible. I tried to prepare them many different ways, only to be met with the incontrovertable fact that the texture is simply unbearable. The butter and garlic just slipped right off the rubbery mushrooms, leaving us with a wholly unappetizing dish.

The second take is what you see above, and is wholly delicious. They might not have the same dubious backstory to go with them, but the trade off for great flavor is well worth it. Plump mushrooms bursting with butter and garlic- does it get better?

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Black Cherries in Sweet Cream

“Illyrio smiled as his serving men spooned out bowls of black cherries in sweet cream for them both.” (Dance with Dragons)

Black Cherries in Sweet Cream

Our Thoughts:

This is an easy dessert with a serious wow factor. I mean, have you seen that photo?

I would totally eat this dessert.

In fact, I did.

The cream isn’t too sweet, allowing the slight tartness of the cherries to come through. The pop of the cherries melts into the texture of the cream, leaving just a hint of purple swirl in the bottom of the bowl. It’s so good you may have to lick your bowl…

For an even more decadent dining experience, leave the stems on the cherries. Dip them into a dish of sweet cream, and gently eat them one at a time like a Roman Emperor. Magister Illyrio would be proud.

Get the recipes for the Sweet Cream in the Cookbook, and make it at home!

Pentoshi Honey Duck w/orange snap peppers

“‘My fellow magisters have doubled the size of the city guard,’ Illyrio told them over platter’s of honey duck and orange snap peppers one night at the manse that had been Drogo’s. The khal had joined his khalasar, his estate given over to Daenerys and her brother until the wedding.” -A Game of Thrones

Honey Duck w/orange snap peppers

Our Thoughts:

Like many meat dishes, the star of this dish was the incredible sauce. Made with honey, orange juice, butter, and a dash of warm pepper, it brought out the richness of the duck. Dripping with this sauce, each bite of the duck is succulent, a delight to eat. We sauteed orange bell peppers with a touch of salt, as well as some baby bok choy for additional color, then drizzled both with some fig infused balsamic vinegar. Amazing. Serve with some flatbread, honeyed wine, and a table set with the strangest fruits you can find, and you’re golden.

Get the Recipe!