Lovers of Thai and Southeast Asian cooking will be delighted to hear that Parripak Foods in Bedfordshire have started processing Galangal alongside their fresh vegetables and garlic purees.
The Galangal herb belongs to the ginger family of plants and is an Asian species, which was originally found only in the grasslands along southern parts of China, and in some places in Southeast Asia. Best known for its use in Indonesian and Thai foods, Galangal is a rhizome that is characterised externally by a dark reddish brown colour. Although it resembles ginger in appearance, it has a completely different taste. The finished puree has a strong aromatic odour and a sharp, sweet taste, which has been likened to a mix of pepper and pine needles!
The physical shape of this squat, knobbly, butter-coloured root meant the company had to re-think the best way to achieve the perfect puree. Dominic Pleasance from Parripak explained: “Because Galangal is shaped like ginger, it presents a real challenge to achieve a good puree. We have had to make various modifications to our processing machinery as it has had to work much harder to produce the consistency we require, but the end result is an extremely good product.”
Galangal is particularly popular in Thai cuisine and is used extensively in green chicken curries, satay sauces, massaman curries and tom kha soups, with ‘kha’ meaning Galangal in Thai. Parripak says that demand for Galangal is steadily increasing and they are now processing 10kg buckets with a shelf life of 10 days, at their factory in Bedfordshire.
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Editor’s notes
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Parripak Foods are now one of the leading fresh vegetable preparation specialists in the country, serving food manufacturers and food service companies. In 2006 they become part of the William Jacksons Food group, and currently operate from a 62,000 sq ft purpose built factory on the same site providing a wide range of freshly processed-to-
A dedicated garlic processing unit has been established on site which supplies pureed, whole peeled, chopped and diced garlic to ready meal, pizza, soup and ethnic cuisine customers. It also has a segregated high-care facility to cater for customers who produce dips and sauces and require low micro levels.
Parripak have also received various accreditations including EFSIS, organic accreditation through the Soil Association and Investors in People.
For technical information contact James Parrish, Parripak’s commercial director
Tel: +44 (0)1462 813279 E-mail sales@
For media information contact Val Jefferys, Ultimedia Public Relations
Tel: +44 (0)1767 601621 (ddl) E-mail:
