Ginger comes from a reed-like plant native to India and warm parts of Asia. It has never been found growing wild and is always cultivated. The edible part of the plant is the underground tuberous stem. This knobbly stem or rhizome is used fresh and dried as a spice.
We have discovered that fresh ‘green’ ginger, as it is called, has been used in Italian cooking since the time of the Romans. It has a strong, distinctive peppery flavour and is sometimes used as a substitute for chilli, usually combined with garlic, in pasta sauces.
Buy whole, hard fresh tubers. The skin should be pale brown and quite smooth. Best-quality fresh ginger should be juicy when cut. Peel off the thin skin, and grate, using a Parmesan grater. Freshly cut ginger will discolour very quickly, so use it immediately. Instead of grating you could cut the peeled ginger into very fine slices, discarding the fibrous parts, then into very fine cubes.
We have only found ginger used in recipes from the south of Italy.