Ginger is an exceptionally versatile plant found indigenously in Asia where it has been used for many a millennium as an herbal cure for problems as diverse as, an upset stomach, inflammation or even clearing up fungal infections. The main part of the ginger plant we use is the root which can easily be grown in any tropical setting. This ability lends itself to being an ideal plant for cultivation all across the globe between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Its unique medicinal properties make it an herb which is still used today to help many an ailing person. Perhaps there is some wisdom to be divined from those old folk remedies, (your head hurts? Here chew on this tree bark) as well as the many possible benefits which have yet to be found. There are just some things man can’t do better than nature.
Thanks to the Silk Road, Ginger became popular as a medicine throughout the Roman Empire, until of course it was overrun by barbarians. Oh, and that greatest of Huns, Attila. But it was the Chinese who were the first to distribute Ginger to other locales. The Chinese sailors brought it with them on lengthy oceanic journeys in order to combat sea sickness and scurvy. They did this because the dried root has a long shelf (or barrel) life making it ideal for such voyages. And if a little of it happened to make it to shore, and the locals were to become aware of its’ miraculous properties, or even if a little of the root was to finds its’ way into the ground in the tropics, (where it grows so easily) well so much the better.
Only later did the ginger root become a major component of both Indian and Chinese cuisine. Spreading over time to influence cooking in many diverse locales. It gives a wonderful flavor with a bit of a kick to a variety of dishes. Today its’ culinary uses have surpassed its’ medicinal ones. Even if you don’t have fresh ginger in your kitchen you probably have it in a dried form, and incidentally the powder is twice as hot as the fresh root.
As essential as it is to Indian (it’s a major component of curry) and Chinese dishes, it's important to other cuisines as well. Throughout Southeast Asia it’s used in much the same manner as in Chinese and Indian fare. The Japanese pickle it and use it as an accompaniment to sushi. The people of Jamaica (the British brought it there) have a great many uses for it including Ginger Beer. In the West we use it in cookies, breads, in a crystallized form as candy and of course in ginger ale.
So it’s a mystery as to why people started referring to someone with red hair as a ginger. And no it had nothing to do with Gilligan’s Island. There is the camp which believes it came from English colonists, who in the 19th century took notice of the bright red flower of the Malaysian form of ginger. However the term has been in use much longer than that.
In the 18th century a type of rooster with sandy colored feathers was thought to resemble (in both color and appearance) the ginger root. And of course the rooster had a bright red comb atop his head. Fair freckled skin with a shock of red hair on top and suddenly the term begins to make a lot more sense.
And incidentally, one of the holidays’ favorite cookies, the Gingerbread man, comes to us courtesy of Queen Elizabeth the first, of England; who was of course, a Ginger herself. Each gingerbread man (or woman) was made to appear like a guest of her court, a great honor indeed until they bite the head off of your likeness. Then it would be time to run, run as fast as you can.