Why Ginger and Molasses

Ginger and molasses occupy a special place in my list of favorite foods. And let me say that this is a highly competitive space, featuring other culinary contenders such as cheese, chocolate, vanilla, sesame, olives, chilli and garlic. However, I chose both of these ingredients because of the warmth and sweetness that they evoke and the aromas and flavors that are distinct and all their own.

Fresh ginger. That spiciness and fragrance has been a part of Asian cooking for years and that's where I love it best: as a key ingredient in some of my favorite foods - cooked with curries, grated in Hainanese chicken rice, boiled with tea and milk, pickled and served with sushi, stewed with pork belly, and simply steamed with fresh fish. But that's not all. The humble rhizome is now a regular feature in haute cuisine and found everywhere in any self-respecting chef's repertoire. Beet ravioli stuffed with candied ginger, lobster daikon rolls with ginger rosemary dip and chocolate wontons with coconut ginger ice-cream were just some of the interesting ones I found.

And what about molasses, you ask? How does this thick syrupy by-product from the processing of the sugarcane feature and why does it occupy such a coveted spot on your list of favorite ingredients? The answer is simple and purely emotional, as is usually the case with things we hold dear to us. Molasses lie at the heart of my favorite cookie of all time. The hneoh pneah is a flatish, round pastry with a flaky, fragrant crust. One bite into this small biscuit reveals a sweet center filled with sticky, dark brown molasses. The taste is unmistakable and a tiny morsel is all one needs to sample to know there is nothing else like it. As if to tease those who seek it out, these cookies are indigenous to a northern state in Malaysia. Only two bakeries produce them and neither company has an online presence nor distributors outside of Penang. And of course, this makes this little cookie, with its desirable molasses-filled center, an almost obsession.