Old England, Ginger Port, Sustainability, Tourism & Salted Ginger

I was interested to find a reference in the Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary to Gingifran broþ which translates as ginger broth. I knew that the Romans introduced ginger to Britain but this is the first evidence that I've seen which shows that the Anglo-Saxons, who settled in Britain after the Romans, continued to import and consume ginger.

I also discovered Thomas Rymer's Fœdera, a sixteen volume collection of "all the leagues, treaties, alliances, capitulations, and confederacies, which have at any time been made between the Crown of England and any other kingdoms, princes and states". Rymer was a 17th/18th century English Historiographer Royal. One of the volumes contains a reference to an unnamed Genoese ship which was shipwrecked at Dunster, in Somerset, in 1380. Part of the cargo consisted of green ginger which today refers to young ginger but back then meant ginger cured with lemon juice.

It is only a matter of weeks before the Australian ginger harvest begins. To be precise it will be early harvested ginger. Ginger is normally harvested when the above-ground growth has started to die back or at least turned yellow but early harvested ginger will still have an actively growing green stem. Early ginger rhizomes are tender and fleshy with a relatively mild flavour and can either be eaten fresh or preserved in syrup or brine (known as preserved or stem ginger). Australia and China are world-leaders in the production of preserved ginger.

Still in Australia and Ginger Sundowner from Bell River Estate in central New South Wales. Bell River Estate produces table wines and fortified wines from its own grapes and grapes from the local area. One particular product I noticed was Ginger Sundowner, a white fortified wine flavoured with a natural ginger extract. Sandra and Michael Banks took over the business in 2000 and have since created a diverse range of wines. Ginger Sundowner was only introduced six months ago and sales have been good which shows the popularity of ginger. Sandra and Michael were looking for a product which would suit long, hot summers and came up with the idea of a ginger-type wine, something that would be good to drink both on its own and mixed with another drink. Sandra likes it with soda water at a BBQ but says it goes equally well with dry ginger ale, lemonade, as a dash in beer or mixed with whisky. She also recommends using it in stir fry dishes and marinated cantaloupe and watermelon.

Whilst researching and writing about Ginger Sundowner I discovered that the term "port", as a synonym for fortified wine, can no longer be used for Australian wines. Australian winemakers have been banned from using the words Port, Sherry and Champagne on their labels following objections from the EU. In return, 117 of Australia’s geographical indicators, including Barossa, Coonawarra and Margaret River, will be protected in Europe.

A week ago the 11th World Spice Congress was held in India to discuss the theme of "Sustainability and Food Safety: Global Initiatives". One outcome, reported in FarmingUK, has been the appointment of the Rainforest Alliance to adapt current sustainability standards to include spice production. The Sustainable Spices Initiative has asked the Rainforest Alliance (a non-governmental organisation) to incorporate spices into the Sustainable Agriculture Network. The first phase of the project will run from 2012-2015 and will target seven spices (including ginger) from Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Madagascar.

The Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI) is an international spice consortium founded by a number of Dutch spice businesses and now includes Unilever and McCormick. It seeks to reduce the use of pesticides and chemicals, conserve biodiversity, increase yields and training farmers on appropriate food safety requirements. This, according to the SSI website, should lead to an "economic boost for farmers, processors, traders and retailers, and to securing the future supply base of natural spices".

The Sustainable Agriculture Network is an international coalition of leading conservation groups which aims to link "responsible farmers with conscientious consumers by means of the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal of approval".

Over recent years India has pioneered the concept of the model tourism village. These villages are allocated extra funding to help them provide tourists with a memorable experience. The first model tourism village in India was created in 2003 in Kumbalangi, an island-village in the state of Kerala. Tourists can go fishing with local fisherman, visit the paddy fields and walk in the mangroves. The village made the news last week when IBNLive reported that the Kumbalangi Model Tourism Development Society will introduce ginger and turmeric (a member of the ginger family) cultivation. The report stated that this could be the first time that these traditional hill farm crops are being cultivated in a flat coastal village. These crops will be planted as an intercrop between rows of coconut trees to give even more interest to tourists.

Strong demand from Japan and the US for salted ginger has enabled a Vietnamese company to expand and create jobs. dailymaz.com reported that Thanh Lan Enterprise in Kon Tum City is performing so well that it has built a new ginger processing factory.

You're not going to believe this but I found a patent application for a salted ginger toothpaste. Filed in 2004 by China's Chengzhi Co, there is no evidence that I can find that the toothpaste actually reached the shop shelves.

Next month will see Greenlight Beverages launch its Chronic Ice Ginger Ale in the US alternative drinks market. The drink will be made from real ginger extract, cane sugar and hemp seed powder. I'm not entirely sure what the alternative drinks market is. Is it anything new? Is it anything natural? Is it anything that is not a cola? Let me know.

A recipe containing ginger leaves made me realise that I know very little about this part of the plant. It seems to be quite popular in the Far East which probably explains why I've yet to see it in the UK. It could be that ginger leaves don't travel that well. I did come across a report on the antioxidant properties (AOP) of ginger leaves which indicated that the majority of leaves tested had significantly higher AOP values than in the rhizomes. Interestingly, the report mentioned that the ginger plants being tested came from three plant tribes, all of which belong to the ginger family (Zingiberaceae).

New Beers & Whisky, Stone's Advert & Healthy Curries

Welcome to the first post of this blog's second year. I hope that you still find this eclectic mix of ginger news and personal comments of interest. Let me know if there is anything else you would like me to cover.

Here's a beer I missed at Christmas - There Is No Santa from those inventive folk at BrewDog from Fraserburgh in Scotland. It was a limited edition seasonal stout brewed with cocoa nibs and ginger stems. Apparently, it has a gingerbread flavour. Did anyone try it?

Occasionally I will mention the launch of a new ginger-infused or flavoured beer from an established brewery (as you can see from the previous story) but I don't believe that I've ever had the opportunity to introduce you to a new ginger-infused beer from a brand new brewery. The Okoboji Brewing Company is so new that it only held its launch party a few days ago. The Sioux City Journal reported that one of the four launch beers was Midwest Charm Farmhouse Ale With Ginger Added. This 6pc abv beer will, according to the brewery website, pair quite unusually with red and white meat, and with fish.

Many of you will have come across old advertisements and thought "they can't say that". Until fairly recently advertising standards were, to be honest, non-existent. But I was surprised to find an old advert for Stone's Original Green Ginger Wine which made the bold claims that it "Increases virility in men" and "Increases sex drive". I can't believe that these claims have ever been medically substantiated. I found this advert on GingerWine.com, a site dedicated to ginger wine. Although the site is full of interesting facts and paraphernalia about ginger wine, unfortunately it does not seem to have been updated for a number of years.

The Mail Online carried an interesting story on why curries are good for you. Most curries contain spices with strong anti-bacterial properties. Ginger, wearing its spice hat, can slow bacterial growth in meat by 25pc. Add that to the corresponding figures of up to 80pc for garlic, cinnamon and cumin and you end up with a range of tasty and healthy curries. Good news for the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and here in the UK where Wikipedia describes curry as an integral part of British cuisine.

The Atlantic reported during the week that The King's Ginger, one of my favourite ginger drinks, is now available in America. This 41pc abv (82 proof in the US) liqueur from Berry Bros & Rudd is made with macerated ginger root. If you haven't tried it yet, treat yourself.

Reed’s Inc., one of the leading ginger soft drink makers in the US, has announced record revenues of $25 million for 2011. According to the press release, the fourth quarter of 2011 marked the 9th consecutive quarter of 20pc-plus growth. I'm not aware of Reed selling its products outside of the US and Canada. With the rapid growth in ginger products around the world I'm sure that the company must have investigated the export potential of its drinks.

It's been a busy week for ginger drink launches and announcements. The Brisbane Times reported that next month will see the launch in Australia of a ginger-infused lager. XXXX Cloudy Ginger Beer has been developed by Lion Nathan, one of Australia's leading alcoholic beverage companies. Brewed to appeal to the more adventurous drinker, the drink uses the popular Summer Bright Lager. The brewer will produce a limited run of 23,000 cases to test the market.

The Digitel reported that Virgil Kaine has recently launched Bourbon & Ginger, a ginger flavoured bourbon whisky. The drink has been developed in Charleston, South Carolina, by infusing two-year-old Kentucky bourbon with natural ginger and a secret blend of exotic ingredients. It is 40pc abv (or 80 proof in the US).

You probably already know this but I've only just found out that the actor Andy Serkis put a lot of strain on his throat and vocal chords when taking the part of Gollum in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. He countered this by drinking copious quantities of a homemade drink containing honey, lemon and ginger. The drink became known as Gollum Juice.

The Himalayan Times announced that Nepal has selected ginger as one of three projects to represent the country in the WTO/Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Trading Stories scheme. The EIF is a multi-donor programme which encourages what are known as Least Developed Countries to be more active players in global trading markets. The nominated ginger project, "Enhancing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Capacity of Nepalese Ginger Exports Through Public Private Partnership", concentrates on developing ginger added value which is now acknowledged as the best way of maximising income and profit.

A few weeks ago we reported on the call for more ginger farmers in Fiji to help Buderim Ginger, through its Frespac subsidiary, meet its export contracts. Noosa News has now updated the story by reporting that Buderim Ginger is optimistic that it will honour its commitment to export more than 1000 tonnes. Fiji is now an integral part of the Buderim operation, even when Australian domestic production is good.

And finally, Bruce Cost, America's leading authority on ginger, has said of ginger that "It’s probably the premier herb on the planet".

Ginger Xmas Hit, Winter Beer Festival, Ginger Wine & Increased Earnings

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?