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[sjc <indexer AT fairpoint.net>]

EarthNSky wrote:
> sjc wrote:
>
>   
> > If I just said "with fats", I offer my apologies, because what he 
> > actually said was more along the line of 'heated with fats, as in the
> >  dietary usage'.
> >     
>
> I think you did say that, my bad, but I did get the right impression,
> that he was referring to the cooking spice, not some store-bought
> extract.  When I cook with curry/turmeric, I usually do use butter or
> olive oil, so that should cover it.  
I got the impression he was talking about actually heating the turmeric, 
along with other spices in the dish, in oil/fat before adding the whole 
of that (paste? sauce?) into the dish;;;;
> However, it would be difficult to
> cook up a 'therapeutic dose' of it...I can see that now, 1/2 cup rice, 1
> TBSP butter and 1/2 cup turmeric..lol
>   
If what he said about the amount needed--see just below--you'd be down 
to about 3.5 teaspoonsful, which would still be a powerful amount, IMHO, 
and you'd have to eat the whole dish to get that, so would soon be 
round, in addition to other woes, so obviously that not the whole 
solution.....would be awfully hard for me to get even that much down, I 
fear, as I'm not all that fond of it to begin with...wonder about making 
some sort of 'spice paste/mix' of spices heated in oil to use as a 
"dressing" of sorts over/with something more bland .....I dunno, can't 
think of any way it really sounds "good", given that I'm fine with the 
flavor a few times a year or so....Hmmm, surely it would kill off the 
very bitter flavor greens get when they're short of water before picked.....
>   He also offered his opinion that it was on the order of
>   
> > 10 times more effective used that way.  I haven't, of course, tried
> > it, but even if a portion were consumed that way, seems it would cut
> > down on the need for the encapsulated version.
> >     
> .......I get a bit frustrated at times
> because it seems that no matter what I do, someone says "well, it didn't
> work for you because..."  I know you are not saying that, but I am
> touchy on that point because I am trying very hard to find something
> that will work for me.
>
>   
No that wasn't what I was 'at' at all; I just thought about you when he 
was talking about it and reporting what he said as it was a different 
slant on delivery method than I'd heard before.
> Ok, so how would he be traditionally using it if not powdered, 
I got the impression he was talking about using the powdered version but 
that he really only considered it effective when used heated with fats.
> and is he
> talking about a prophylactic use just by adding it to the regular diet,
> or a therapeutic use to treat an illness?
>   
The talk was on uses of herbs to treat various immune issues, but by the 
time he got to the method of using turmeric we were at the Q&A part and 
talking about arthritis/arthritis-types in general.  Several people 
there with advanced arthritic issues,/ /sclerodema/ /and other chronic 
autoimmune issues.  He was talking to the lot.
> I know it was used topically as an antiseptic poultice, often mixed with
> other herbs. I know it is considered a condiment.   Would the poultice
> be used on inflamed joints?  If so, that would almost seem to be
> wasteful of it's systemic anti-inflammatory properties.  
He didn't mention using in on the skin but don't discount the skin as a 
route of delivery; it is the largest organ in the body, by weight, and a 
very efficient method of delivery.  As soon as something is 
accepted/moved by the skin there are capillaries waiting to take it up, 
not it's in the blood system and ready to go.  For example, many, many 
people get into trouble using OTC cortisone creams, literally overdosing 
themselves on steroids.  The ready absorption through the skin is also 
one reason the aspirin-type (salicylic acids) were mostly taken off the 
OTC market---bleeding ulcers cropped up all over the place from 
salicylics applied to the skin.
> I wonder if they
> grate the fresh root into food-I believe that is done in SE Asia like in
> Thailand.  I'm not sure where I would be able to get a fresh turmeric
> rhizome, or a steady supply of it.
>   
I called my SIL and asked her (Vietnamese and worked for INR in many 
refugee camps in SE Asia so has seen much) and she said it is most often 
available, as far as she knows, ground, but that ground "there" (in SE 
Asia) looks different.....finally got out of her that is coarser, but 
that's about all....asked her how they use it, she said it is almost 
always cooked in with other flavorings, set aside to cool, then added to 
a dish---for what that's worth.  Who's to say that what someone does in 
a refugee camp situation is anywhere near the normal?  She volunteered 
that it's more of a "southern Asia thing" (she considers VietNam to be 
"north"---anything to get distance between China and VN!!).  She's a 
wonderful cook and only cooks 'American' for my pigheaded brother who 
refuses to eat Asian food, but I've never seen her use it nor have I 
seen it in her kitchen, now that I think of it, despite the fact that I 
cooked in that kitchen for months at a clip at one point, so I'd guess 
it holds little place in VN diet.  I did ask her to ask her "maid" about 
it---a woman who was their cook when they lived in Thailand for almost 
20 years, native Thai.  Tuyet volunteered that she (maid) didn't use it 
that she remembered, but said she'd ask.  I don't know anyone else with 
knowledge about it's traditional use, but will keep it in my mind to ask 
about.  I've had it in Pakistani dishes but don't know any Pakistanis to 
ask.

Interesting subject.

SJ