Gingerbread is one of the holiday season’s favorite flavors, rooted in a rhizome (plant stem) grown in the islands: ginger. It’s a spice used for thousands of years by the Chinese, Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Greeks and others, delivered fresh, brined, pickled, dried, crystalized, powdered and in sugar syrup.

Besides gingerbread and gingersnaps, ginger is a key ingredient in ginger ale and ginger beer. The root lends its pungent flavor to both savory and sweet preparations.

The ginger harvest season in Hawaii won’t happen for a couple of months. But mature, flavorful ginger is still available and delicious. Be sure to purchase hard, plump pieces with smooth, thin skin; use it in this recipe that utilizes ginger in three forms.

GINGER POUND CAKE

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup minced crystallized ginger
1/4 cup fresh ginger, finely minced
1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease five small foil pans.

In bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, ground ginger and salt.

In large bowl using electric mixer, combine sugar and butter and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla, crystalized ginger and fresh ginger and blend well.

Mix in 1/4 of dry ingredients, then add 1/3 of milk. Repeat until all ingredients have been incorporated into the batter.

Pour batter into loaf pans and bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

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Hawaii food writer Joan Namkoong offers a weekly tidbit on fresh seasonal products, many of them locally grown.