I was extremely pleased to read in the Daily Mail last week that ginger is the big success story in the UK's food and drink sectors this Christmas. The Mail quoted a recent statistic that exports of root ginger from India, the source of the cheapest good quality ginger, have gone up by 76pc year on year. I think that the implication was that UK ginger food and drink products use Indian ginger rather than, say, Chinese ginger which has a strong presence in the UK. My feeling is that Chinese ginger is popular in its raw form for domestic consumption but Indian ginger is preferred for manufactured products.
It's only a month until the 2012 National Winter Ales Festival at the Sheridan Suite in Manchester. The festival, according to CAMRA, will feature over 300 real ales, foreign beers, ciders and perries. The British draft beers category should contain a number of beers with ginger. The 1648 Brewing Co from near Lewes in East Sussex will supply Ginger No.1, a blend of smoked malt and root ginger. The Beartown Brewery from Congleton in Cheshire will supply a blonde ale called Ginger Bear. The Marble brewery from Manchester will be supplying a beer that I know absolutely nothing about. Finally, Robinsons from Stockport will present its famous Ginger Tom, a speciality strong ale brewed with Chinese bruised ginger root.
I discovered on the 1648 website that the Ginger No.1 beer was originally called Ginger Nol. But why Ginger Nol? (I often ask that about many beer names). Well, Oliver Cromwell had red hair and his nickname was "Old Nol". Nol is an old word meaning lump or stump which can be loosely translated as head. Hence we have Ginger Nol! The brewery had to change the name as people insisted on calling it Ginger No.1.
The Times of India reported on Christmas in Nagpur, the largest city in central India and the third largest city in the state of Maharashtra. It mentioned that as winters are cold, ginger wine is very popular because "it creates heat in the body and soothes the throat". The average low temperature for the city is 12C (54F) which, to me, doesn't seem that low but when you have a peak average high of 42C (108F), I would probably find 12C a touch chilly. I also learned that although Mumbai is the state capital, Nagpur is the winter and auxiliary capital. I can't find out why the state needs a winter capital; does anyone know?
JustLuxe, an online affluent lifestyle guide, featured Elixir G, the world's only liquid ginger mix. The Los Angeles-based drink can be used in cocktails, salads and desserts. I was drawn to the article by the paragraph describing the selection and production process. The best ginger root in the world, according to the drink's creator Bill Tocantins, is sourced from a number of countries including Thailand, Brazil and India. Ginger root extract is combined with lemon juice and pure cane sugar to produce a natural drink with no preservatives, chemicals or dyes. I've no idea how you get hold of it.
There has been a surprise development in the sad story of the ginger farmer suicides in the state of Kerala in India. IBNLive has reported that farmers from Wayanad, the epicentre of the crisis, are leasing land in the neighbouring state of Karnataka for next September in the hope that the price of ginger will rise. Another IBNLive report stated that a report on the ginger farmer migration will be submitted to the Keralan state government. An IPS story on the same subject has said that the agrarian crisis is severe. A researcher in agrarian distress told IPS that there "was a huge gap between income earned from agriculture and the input costs incurred by farmers".
After reading about the crisis caused by the drop in the price of ginger, it was strange to read about the big increase in earnings from Indian ginger exports in the first seven months of this fiscal year. Earnings more than doubled from Rs 43.47 crore (434,700,000) to Rs 105.42 crore (1,054,200,000).
And finally, what are ginger infused hot towels? I've noticed that a number of health clubs, spas and beauty salons offer this ginger steam towel treatment but, to be honest, I've no idea what it does apart from opening and cleansing the pores. Let me know if you have had this treatment or recommend it. What does the ginger do?
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