Topic: Blue garlic and ginger paste ??

[colin grigson]

Hi clever forum friends 

Can anyone tell me if it's normal or not for my garlic and ginger paste to go blue in the fridge overnight .. I blend approx 4:1 garlic/ginger with a couple of drops of water and then transfer to a small tupperware container that is airtight and with little air in it ie: full to brim with paste.

I've tasted it and it looks OK too just this strange vivid blue colour like it's radioactive or worse ... I don't want to poison anyone ( MIL excepted )     

[Ian S.]

Hi Colin

One or two forum members have reported seeing blueish GG paste in restaurant kitchen demos, and have deliberately recreated it at home, too. I shouldn't think you'll poison anyone, certainly not after a night or two in the fridge.

Some other members and I add a glug of oil when blending it. This seems to stop it going blue or green, and I also find it helps it keep well in the fridge for at least a week, if not longer.

I've no idea what the science behind the colour change is, though!

[PaulP]

From what Ive read the garlic contains sulphur compounds and in the presence of copper the compound copper sulphate can be produced. This has a bright blue/green colour.

Suggestions for the source of the copper could be your water supply, using butter or lemon juice or even the metal cooking utensils you are using. It won't do you any harm to eat it.

http://www.apinchof.com/garlicqanda.htm

You could try the suggestion to use oil instead of water. That would probably stop it happening.

Cheers,

Paul

[Salvador Dhali]

I remember asking one of my more scientifically minded buddies why this blue/green colouration sometimess occurs... And he said he didn't have a clue, but would find out.

Which he did, and apparently, it's all down to something called isoallin, a compound found in garlic, which breaks down and reacts with amino acids to produce a blue-green color. (He assured me that it's harmless, and doesn't affect the taste.)

Not sure where the amino acids come from (maybe the ginger?), but as Ian says above just chug in a glug of oil when you make your GG paste up and you'll have no such issues.

My last batch has been going for a week now and looks (and tastes) as good as it did the day I made it...


[EDIT]

Sorry Paul - we must have been composing posts synchronously...

[curryhell]

Hi Colin

One or two forum members have reported seeing blueish GG paste in restaurant kitchen demos, and have deliberately recreated it at home, too. I shouldn't think you'll poison anyone, certainly not after a night or two in the fridge.

Some other members and I add a glug of oil when blending it. This seems to stop it going blue or green, and I also find it helps it keep well in the fridge for at least a week, if not longer.

I've no idea what the science behind the colour change is, though!

My latest effort went green / blue after a couple of days .  Adding oil will stop this as Paul P and Ian S suggest.  The only thing is by so doing you are creating an anaerobic environment in which botulism spores can germinate, if your garlic was infected by them .  Just use search and enter "botulism" and you'll get a few threads pop up that are worth reading on the topic. This also includes a thread on the subject of blue/green garlic and ginger from 2005  ;D

[DalPuri]

My first attempt at KD1 all those years ago was like that. With just onion garlic and ginger boiling away.
I thought it was a natural thing because fresh ginger is called green ginger.
When you add the rest of the ingredients, the colour balanced out, so i didnt give it another thought.

Frank. 

[colin grigson]

Wow that was quick guys !!

Thanks for the replies .. it's put my mind at ease .. I'll try the oil instead of water next time and go back to normal looking food !!   ;D

[chewytikka]

Hi Colin
Welcome to the forum

(radioactive vivid blue colour) No No No, sounds like old ginger to me.
Just bin it, you know it's wrong.

I do G&G = 50/50, veg oil, salt and sometimes water to thin and make it white.
Never found any reason to do any other ratio.

Use the freshest G&G you can get, or use Taj frozen blocks (ASDA,Very Good)
cheers Chewy

[natterjak]

Hi chewy

I've noticed Asda sell both Taj and Cofresh frozen ginger (and garlic) blocks. Have you tried both and concluded Taj is better or have you not tried the Cofresh versions? There's a small price difference, can't remember off hand which is cheapest.

[chewytikka]

Hi chewy

I've noticed Asda sell both Taj and Cofresh frozen ginger (and garlic) blocks. Have you tried both and concluded Taj is better or have you not tried the Cofresh versions? There's a small price difference, can't remember off hand which is cheapest.

Hi NJ
Never used Corfresh, but used other products by them and they were very good.
Their Sev Mamra is positively addictive.

I think the Taj stuff was 97p a pack, seemed cheap to me and very handy
cheers Chewy