Hangover Remedy, Keeping Warm, Gingerbread Houses, Wassail & Toothache

I've mentioned before about the benefit of drinking ginger tea or infusion to reduce the effects of a hangover. Adelaide Now has now also advocated ginger as one of three natural hangover remedies for the forthcoming party season. It states that "It’s soothing for the digestive tract and helps relieve nausea. Try chilled ginger tea with lemon or add fresh ginger to a vegie juice." The only problem I had with the article was the comment that the warm weather in South Australia is well and truly here. I feel really envious especially as I had to scrape frost of my windscreen early this morning! Anyway, I hope that I don't have to give it a try.

Last week The Korea Herald carried an article about traditional Korean medicine in which a lecturer at Pusan National University’s School of Korean Medicine claims that drinking ginger tea in the winter "warms the body". I don't know much about Korea (both north and south) apart from what I learned from watching MASH on television. It seems that winter in North Korea can be quite nippy so the lecurer may be on to something. Maybe I should have had a ginger tea before removing the frost this morning.

Building gingerbread houses is a very popular activity in the USA. There doesn't seem to be a week without a town or city somewhere hosting a gingerbread competition or exhibition. Yesterday it was Houston's turn with its third annual Gingerbread Build-Off. This competition, to quote the Houston Business Journal, "tests the skills of teams of local architects, designers, bakers and gingerbread enthusiasts who come together to design and build a unique cookie sculpture." Hopefully I will be able to share the results with you next week. I know that the art of building gingerbread houses started life in some northern and central European countries but it has never taken off here in the UK although I am beginning to see an increase in gingerbread house paraphernalia in many shops over recent Christmases.

The Nigerian National Daily reported on an exhibition and seminar organised by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Japanese External Trade Organisation. The theme of the seminar was "Market Access to Japan: Spices and Food Related Products". A Japanese food expert said that Nigerian food products were among the "best and of the highest quality grade". The expert went on to identify ginger as one of the Nigerian spice products which could "break easily into the Japanese market". I don't agree that it would be easy as Nigerian ginger would have to compete with exports from India and Thailand, both hardened and seasoned traders.

Last week's story of Jamaica's failure to win a major ginger export deal with a leading US soft drinks manufacturer has been questioned by the Jamaican government. The Gleaner, which carried the original story, has published the Ministry of Agriculture's response. It contains detailed rebuttals of the claims in the original article such as the ministry is seeking to match potential customers to the unique chemical composition of Jamaican ginger, and that the current export level is limited by the availability of disease-free planting material. An interesting article in its own right.

I've just read that the Great Basin Brewery from north Nevada has released this year's holiday beer - Red Nose Holiday Ale. This interpretation of a traditional Wassail beverage has been brewed with the addition of honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. There's not much chance of my ever tasting it but I don't think the chances of the residents of north Nevada are that much better. The reason is that it will be rare, 500 bottles rare. Each bottle of this limited edition will be hand labelled, numbered and signed by the brewmaster.

I'm familiar with the act of wassailling as a southern English tradition of singing and drinking to the health of cider apple trees but I didn't know anything about wassail the beverage. There are regional variations in the recipes but generally they involve mulled cider or beer with added sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and topped with a slice of toast. As I live in southern England I think that I should make an effort to find a wassailling ceremony close to home.

And finally, researchers at the Qazvin University of Medical Sciences in Iran are testing to see whether ginger is a suitable alternative to painkillers for toothache. According to South Africa's Independent Online an alternative is being sought as ibuprofen cannot be used by people with particular medical conditions such gastrointestinal ulcers and renal problems. You can rely on ginger to come to the rescue.

Cattle Feed, Graffiti, Fungicide and Hangovers

Those of you with a taste for ginger will be used to reading about ginger food and drink. News of the latest dessert or cake or alcoholic ginger beer may well have you licking you lips in anticipation. So what must it be like for our animal friends? I only ask as I've just read in the Farmers Guardian about a beef finishing business in East Yorkshire in England. Here, farmer John Gatenby feeds his cattle on a range of food manufacturing by-products including ginger syrup. I wonder if it affects the taste of the meat? And does it make the meat tender? Ginger is well known as a meat tenderizer but that is at the preparation and cooking stages. I'd love to try some.

The Lo-Down, the community website for Manhattan's Lower East Side, reported on the unusual form of advertising adopted by Bruce Cost's Fresh Ginger, Ginger Ale. The drinks company created a fantastic graffiti mural on the outside walls of a corner building. Can't see this style of advertising happening here in the UK. Pity really.

It looks like Australian ginger growers will have to change their planting programme. Currently, ginger 'seed' is treated with carbendazim, a benzimidazole fungicide, before planting to protect against soft rot and to induce early sprouting. Now the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has proposed the withdrawal of carbendazim use for various agricultural products including ginger seed pieces. Research by APVMA has shown that use of the fungicide may pose a risk to consumers and farm workers. So what can the farmers use in its place? Apparently imazalil has been found to be an effective replacement. I know, it means nothing to me either.

We've mentioned a couple of times on All Things Ginger that drinking a ginger tea or infusion can be helpful in reducing the effects of a hangover. It is said to combat nausea and settle the stomach. But what happens if the hangover has been caused by overindulging in an alcoholic ginger beer (very popular here in the UK), a ginger wine or a spirit with a natural ginger mixer? My hangover days have long since gone so I shall leave it to someone else to test.