Of course as someone who has spent a lot of time in the kitchen and enjoys the challenge of preparing healthy, attractive and good-tasting food I know what ghee is. I've read about it casually, and dismissed it as what it is -- clarified butter -- of no particular cooking/baking interest to me personally, though for anyone focused on East Indian cooking it would be a major ingredient their pantry (refrigerator) would never be without.

And then a week or so ago I read an article out of The Washington Post, re-printed in our local newspaper and it was beyond intriguing. For example: "Ghee has long been touted in Indian cooking and Ayurvedic medicine as healing to the digestive tract and a contributor to strong eyesight, healthy skin and stable moods. Modern studies validate that ghee provides the fat-soluble vitamins A (for eyesight and skin), D (for bones and immune health), and E (to balance hormones and repair damaged tissue), and all of these vitamins are easily absorbed when combined with the natural fat in ghee. Ghee also has butyric acid, shown to support healthy digestion."

Now that's valuable information, as is this: "Studies show that ghee does not increase cholesterol, as it is high in short- and medium-chain fatty acids, instead of the long-chain fatty acids most associated with heart disease." And the point that really went far to convince me I'd been missing out on a wonderful food ingredient in my cooking experience: "...Very little ghee is needed to achieve a rich, creamy flavour. Ghee is almost entirely free of lactose and casein, with a smoke point beyond which essential minerals and enzymes are destroyed and free radicals that can damage our bodies are released."

The writer waxed enthusiastic about how her new use of ghee for baking and cooking for her family received rave appreciation in popcorn, roasting broccoli, topping sweet potatoes, in curries and soups. She also used it in bread, pancakes, oatmeal, eggs where it's rich flavour added to the pleasure of the taste of these preparations.

I resolved on the basis of these details revelling in the qualities of clarified butter that it was time to see for myself, and next shopping expedition at the supermarket included a search for ghee. I'd known it was there on the shelves, since I had seen it before. And I couldn't wait to have the opportunity to conduct my own gustatory experiments with ghee.

First time was with a small side of wild Pacific salmon. Preparing to bake it, I used ghee over the non-skin side, and lemon-infused pepper, along with slices of fresh lemon placed over the ghee. And the end result? Hmm. Our efforts to discern an improvement over the usual butter or extra-virgin olive oil used in that preparation, faltered. Tasted just the same as it always does, good but no hint that the ghee improved the flavour.

Then I tried it on potatoes, and big deal! Yesterday I roasted a Cornish hen for dinner, and with it prepared a Butternut squash and a Raisin-egg-noodle pudding. Ghee went into roasting the squash with a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves. And ghee was used with the pudding instead of the usual olive oil. The squash failed to respond to the magic of the ghee; it tasted limp. As for the pudding, it tasted the same as usual, except that the crisp bottom had a lingering butter taste. Neh!

Disappointing, actually. I'll eventually use up the ghee but without considering it a special ingredient in cooking. Life is full of surprises and disappointments; this wasn't an Eureka! moment, unfortunately.