“Saffron is special, but Turmeric is amazing”

This is our second trip to Isla Mujeres for the autumn school break with our granddaughters. We particularly enjoy the Caribbean Cuisine on the island. As I mentioned in my post last week, Turmeric spice is frequently used in Caribbean cooking. A good example is this wonderful recipe for Caribbean Curry Chicken. So I was curious about the general use of Turmeric spice in Mexican cooking and did a Google Search for turmeric mexican cooking. The top result returned was Saffron is special, but Turmeric is amazing. 

The author was shopping for food in a local tienda and came across a bin of turmeric root. She notes:

I was fingering some of these pinky finger-sized tubers in a local tienda, noting the lines circumscribing them and the brilliant orange flesh that was revealed when I scratched at the skin, The hand lettered sign in the basket read: ‘Azafrán’. It looked, to me, a little like ginger. I bought a few, scraped off the skin and had a nibble. I recognized the flavor immediately as turmeric. The actual name for turmeric in Spanish is curcuma, (Latin: Curcuma longa )but in Mexico, as it is used as a replacement for saffron, it’s commonly known as azafrán.

She goes on to discuss her love for Indian food and how she was able to make a “semi-authentic Biryani” using her root as turmeric spice in the dish. 

More importantly, she lists some of turmeric’s health benefits:

• Alterative (restores health), analgesic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, antioxidant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, appetizer, astringent, cardiovascular, carminative (anti-gas!), digestive, diuretic, stimulant, and vulnerary (heals wounds).
• Aids medicinally in healing ulcers, parasitic infections, various skin disorders, strains, bruises, joints inflammation (osteo- and rhumatoid arthritis) , cold and flu symptoms.
• Internal antiseptic and antidote to blood poisoning.
• Protects skin from pollution and bacteria and thus discourages wrinkles… Yay!
• Aids in the body’s resistance against allergies in the throat, nose and bronchial

But that is no surprise, just Google turmeric health benefits and you see a huge number of images explaining them! 

And now back to the story of Caribbean Mexican spiced dishes that are reminiscent of the best Indian dishes! Here’s a delightful nut crusted grouper with a delicious spicy sauce served at Javi’s Cantina!