HEATING things UP WITH TURMERIC

A juice blend called "The Mother," consisting of lemon juice, lime juice, turmeric and ginger, mixed with apple cider vinegar, honey, cinnamon and filtered water, as served at Simply Sublime in East Hampton on 1/30/20

The history of turmeric extends into the reaches of history. The spice has been used for thousands of years, and historians attribute its origin to India’s Verdic culture, where it was used both for culinary and religious purposes. The spice, which comes from a gnarled root that resembles ginger, has invaded the health sphere of late. Possessing anti-inflammatory properties, due, in large part, to the active compound curcumin, turmeric can be found in both root and powder form. When used, it imbues food and drink with a yolk-yellow hue.

Despite its longstanding culinary credentials, turmeric is relatively new to the American palate. But it has made a significant name for itself in the wellness community, where it has become a standard ingredient in cold-pressed juices and the stunning golden milk latté — an espresso-free blend of warmed oat, nut, or coconut milk; sweetener; cinnamon; black pepper; and ginger. Some have embraced it with cultish devotion. On the East End, you can find this health-boosting ingredient in drinks, soups, juices, and more.

“We use it in our juice cleanses, typically, but it’s on our regular menu,” Kristy Gilmore, chef-partner of Simply Sublime, the health food store and juice bar with outposts in East Hampton and Cutchogue, said. One of Simply Sublime’s specialties is the 24-ounce drink known as The Mother: turmeric, ginger, lemon, lime, apple cider vinegar, honey, and cinnamon, all served over ice. The turmeric, Gilmore said, is anti-viral and anti-bacterial, providing an immune boost. The store uses fresh turmeric in their drinks, which they juice at the store. “When you juice it, it’s bright, bright orange,” she noted.

Actually, using fresh turmeric is relatively popular among wellness aficionados. At The Giving Room, a yoga and juice bar in Southold, owner Paula DiDonato has found many uses for fresh turmeric, too. The juice bar’s signature Sunburst is a happy blend of carrot, apple, pineapple, orange, lemon, and turmeric juices, while The Flu Shot — a juice specifically targeting the immune system — combines pineapple, lemon, ginger, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and honey.

In addition to its other claims to fame, turmeric, DiDonato said, has been shown to lower blood pressure, relieve pain, and improve cognitive function.

“I would say that there are lots of things that we put in our juices, but turmeric is one of those things where you feel the benefit as soon as you drink it,” she said. “It just helps with ease in the body and all these different levels of function.” In warmer months, Ms. DiDonato is even able to source her turmeric locally, from MarGene Farms, a certified organic farm in Mattituck.

Back on the South Fork, the newly opened Provisions, in Watermill, has incorporated turmeric into their wellness menu as well.

“We have our sweet potato-turmeric soup,” assistant manager Pamela Greinke said. “It has wild rice, chickpeas, turmeric, several juices…” The store also sells the root whole, and can make any juice with turmeric in it. “We do have a really nice carrot-ginger-apple-beer-turmeric and lemon juice. I also make one with grapefruit,” she said.

What does turmeric taste like? “It’s very unique,” Gilmore said of the spice. DiDonato likened it to another common juicing root. “I would say that it’s along the lines of ginger… it has a little bit of an Indian spice taste that people would be familiar with,” she said. “Somewhere between ginger, pepper, and the Indian spice family.” For Greinke, the first word that came to mind was earthy. “It has a nice earthy flavor to it,” she said. “And it has a little bit of a bite, but not as much as ginger.”

Turmeric’s backbone of spice — its bite — can be applied in both sweet and savory foods. At Four Oaks Café and Juice Bar, in Southampton, a recent cold-pressed juice special featured pineapple, ginger, turmeric, apple, kale, cucumber, and lemon. Turmeric provided a brooding heat on the back palate, a heat that was only amplified in the store’s golden milk, which summoned the color of a setting autumn sun.

The drink, owner Pilar Quichimbo said, is among the store’s most popular.

“I make more golden milk than coffee,” she said. “I have people coming into my store having the golden milk every single day.” Golden milk, she added — which uses powdered turmeric, as opposed to the fresh that the store uses in juices and smoothies — provides a number of services to its devotees. Patrons drink it, she said, for “muscle relief, to calm you down, inflammation — which is a big one. It’s soothing this time of year.”

Turmeric spice is tamed, somewhat, by the competing elements present in the renowned golden milk latté. SagTown Coffee, in Sag Harbor, sells their golden milk using SUTRA Gold, a brand that sells powdered latté blends made from coconut milk, organic turmeric, organic black pepper, ground ginger, vanilla powder, organic red maca root, organic cinnamon, Himalayan sea salt, stevia leaf extract, and organic cayenne pepper.

Served, at SagTown, with steamed milk, this is a tamer, more approachable version of golden milk, and one that may even compel a coffee drinker to make the switch. SUTRA, for what it’s worth, bills itself as a superfood product, with ingredients meant to reduce inflammation, help shift away from caffeine consumption, and promote overall wellness.

While using turmeric at home may seem like an expensive undertaking — the root can cost nearly $9/lb. — a little goes a long way. “You use a piece the size of a pinkie nail,” Gilmore said. “It’s very expensive, so people are often turned off by purchasing it, because they probably are purchasing too much of it. You would only need one finger. That would last you at least a week, and you want to keep it as fresh as you can.”

Like ginger, the root has a papery peel. But you don’t always need to remove it. “If they’re young and fresh and tender, I just throw the whole thing in,” Greinke advised. She has seen no roadblocks thus far to the ingredient’s popularity. “We were really surprised to find how quickly it’s sold,” she said. “It’s selling really quickly off the shelves.”

And, after all, in 2020, the turmeric invasion is one you can feel pretty good about.