2013-06-19T09:23:18-04:00 Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/author/index.php?author=jane-peyton Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Jane Peyton Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2055493 2012-11-01T06:30:44-04:00 2013-01-01T05:12:01-05:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
Think of music that comes to mind with the word 'Barcelona' - was it the dramatic song by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe? What about New York - Liza Minnelli singing about wanting to be a part of it? Or Chicago - that toddlin' town. No city can beat London for the number of songs about, or inspired by the city - there are hundreds. But there isn't a London song that everyone can sing together, that makes people feel proud, that is musical shorthand for the positive aspects of the city. 'London Calling' by the Clash is brilliant but it is a protest song. 'Waterloo Sunset' does not mention London, and Ralph McTell's 'Streets of London' is about homelessness and loneliness. 'London Pride' by Noel Coward sings about the flower of the same name. They are all great songs but surely a city as incredible as London deserves an official anthem to celebrate it- a song to sing with pride!

London is a superstar amongst cities and that is why I am running a competition to find a song and flag for London. Whichever song or flag wins the competition will be sent to the London Assembly with a petition and a plea for them to be adopted as the official motifs of London. If anyone agrees with me then please write a song or design a flag and submit them to the competition or sign the petition - website details via my Twitter address below. Residency in London is not a prerequisite for entry. My loved-up state of mind about London has already inspired me and I have co-written a song with composer Emily Leather and co-designed a flag with designer Louisa Fitch. If we sell any songs or merchandise we will donate a percentage of royalties to two London charities (homeless and vulnerable children), and to Oxfam. Whichever person wins the song and flag competition will also be asked to donate a percentage of royalties to London charities.

Next time Londoners en masse sing together they might be singing the rousing new anthem and waving the official flag. Endorphins will hit their brains causing a pleasure shower and life will be beautiful. How many people in the Olympic Stadium joined in the chorus of 'Hey Jude' and 'Our House' at the Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremonies - a majority of the audience - all wreathed in smiles and full of joy. In Britain we do need a reason to sing together. So who wants to write the excuse for Londoners to belt out a happy anthem in unison?]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2004481 2012-10-24T19:00:00-04:00 2012-12-24T05:12:02-05:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
Use it or lose it is all too true with pubs. Each time a pub closes, another tile in the mosaic of Britain's character, community, and heritage is lost. Perhaps we take our pubs for granted and do not realise what a unique institution the pub is. Visitors from overseas recognise it though and a visit to a pub is in the top 10 things that a tourist wants to do during their visit.

Tonight I am taking a group of Americans on a tour of historic London pubs. When they booked it they told me it was to be the highlight of their visit. Last night I was with another tourist and had a couple of delicious pints of Bengal Lancer IPA in an incomparable 17th century pub on the river in Hammersmith - the Dove. The poet who wrote the words to 'Rule Britannia', James Thomson was a regular in the Dove around 1740. He took his final drink there before succumbing to the chill he had caught on the boat journey returning home from the pub. That's just one story in one pub amongst thousands in Britain. When a pub closes we do not just lose a pub, and people become unemployed, we lose all the stories of customers through the ages.

What can we do to arrest the decline in beer sales and the closure of pubs? The immediate thing to do is visit our local more often. But the long term issue needs to be addressed and that is the shocking amount of duty levied by the Government on beer in the pub. With the exception of Finland, Britain has the highest tax on beer in the EU. On average, £1 of the price of a pint of beer is tax and it increases each year 2% above inflation.

Brewing in Britain employs over one million people and contributes £21 billion each year to the economy. This juicy tax take for the exchequer is short sighted because high beer prices leads to fewer customers in the pub. Fewer customers in the pub means pub closures and all those bar and kitchen staff, cleaners, suppliers lose their jobs and do not pay taxes. Please Mr Chancellor - review the beer tax. If anyone reading this is interested, there is an e-petition on the Government petitions website called 'Stop the Beer Duty Escalator'. Save our British pint and save our British pub!

Earlier this week it was the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar when Admiral Nelson sent a signal to the sailors on the other battle ships ' England expects that every man will do his duty'. He was not talking about beer duty.

Last word to a French man - essayist and poet Hilaire Belloc understood that the pub is the soul of our communities and wrote 'Change your hearts or you will lose your inns and you will deserve to have lost them. But when you have lost your inns drown your empty selves for you will have lost the last of England.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1877289 2012-09-13T19:00:00-04:00 2012-11-13T05:12:01-05:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
How about a team game for people who consider rugby a sport for wimps? It is called the Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scramble and takes place each Easter Monday in Hallaton, Leicestershire. If the Anarchy Party was to sponsor a sporting event then bottle-kicking would be a contender. It involves a mammoth tussle for possession of a wooden cask (the bottle) where players run, crawl, wriggle and steam through a scrum to carry the bottle over the village boundary. The Hare Pie is actually made of beef and before kick-off, it is ceremoniously carried in procession led by a character dressed in a medieval green robe and carrying a striped pole topped by a bronze hare. Then the vicar blesses the pie and hunks are cut off and thrown to the throng who scramble to grab a morsel.

For something more sedate there is the annual cricket match that takes place on the Brambles in late summer. This is cricket for people with ADHD. Forget Twenty-20 - this is the swiftest version of the game in the world - and the most waterlogged because the Brambles is a sand-bar in the Solent that emerges from the sea for just under an hour once a year during the lowest tide. Dozens of boats packed with players and spectators float in the out-field waiting for the sea level to drop. As soon as the sandbank materialises everyone wades onto the sand. But first things first - the Brambles Inn is installed with tables, chairs and an umbrella to serve drinks to spectators. Once the stumps are set the umpire declares play in a narrow strip that measures a few metres in length. Then not more than 45 minutes later play is abandoned as the waves creep back to reclaim the Brambles for the deep.

If sport is war by another name, then the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships is unfinished business in the Wars of the Roses. The battle is enjoined each September in the Lancashire Pennines town of Ramsbottom when contestants are tasked with lobbing a black pudding at a pile of Yorkshire Puddings with the aim of toppling them. Yorkshire is handicapped by Lancashire's black pudding weight advantage and stands no chance against the missiles so the Red Rose county always triumphs in this skirmish.

Anyone who cannot wait for Rio 2016 can look forward to Chipping Campden 2013 and the annual Robert Dover's Cotswolds' Olimpick Games in May. The inaugural games were in 1612. Shin-Kicking is one of the highlights. It is a form of wrestling played between two men dressed in white shepherd's smocks where players hold on to the opponent's shoulders and kick at their legs before toppling them to the ground. Players wear soft shoes and stuff their trousers with straw but in previous centuries wrestlers could wear metal toe-capped boots. And the sack race is like no other; entrants are disadvantaged because the sack is tied at the neck, meaning competitors can't use their arms for balance and forward momentum. The British Olympic Association acknowledged Robert Dover's innovation in the London 2012 official bid. Oh to have seen Shin-Kicking in Stratford.

And why does the Football Association not claim footy in a river as this country's favourite game? Bourton-On-The-Water in Gloucestershire stages its annual aquatic summer showdown when two teams play football in the river Windrush that runs along the town's main street.

So sports loving Britons suffering Post Olympics Depression don't despair - see what you have to look forward to!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1832596 2012-08-28T19:00:00-04:00 2012-10-28T05:12:04-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
We drink during a meal to clear our palates for another mouthful of food. Beverages that contain carbon dioxide are very efficient at palate scrubbing and beer contains CO2 (it's a by-product of fermentation). Beer is over 90% water so it also refreshes the mouth. But so does fizzy H2O so why don't people rhapsodize about that with food? Because the perfect drink for matching with food also has aroma, flavour, and body and can contrast, cut or complement the grub and that is where beer delivers with such an impressive range of options. Caramel, vanilla, coffee, honey, spice, citrus, herbs, licorice, banana, chicory, marmalade, smoke, marzipan, chocolate are just a few aromas and flavours found in beer. And beer has a secret weapon - hops. Hops give a flavour backbone, degrees of bitterness, and balance the sweetness of the malted cereal. Hops can act as knives and cut through fat or heavy sauces in food, or they can gently support delicately textured and flavoured food. It's not that wine does not go with food - it matches very well with certain dishes, it's just that beer is much more versatile and also very forgiving.

So why do so few restaurants offer a decent selection of beer? Or any beer for that matter? Not just because the profit margin on beer is much less than it is on wine. It's because beer is perceived as downmarket. The drink of the common man, the beardy weirdy, the lager lout. Conversely wine was historically reserved for high status people only and even today that attitude prevails. Haven't they seen Champagne Charlie and Chardonnay Charlotte in action giving it what for on the vino collapso? Unfortunately beer has an image problem exacerbated by blokeish advertising campaigns aimed at men where women only feature as totty or as harridans spoiling a good time. No wonder restaurants with a reputation to consider largely ignore beer.

In the UK beer has been assigned a gender - male. Ironic isn't it, because women were the original brewers and for millennia were beer's primary brewers. They still are in some societies in Africa and the Amazon. When more women start drinking beer in the UK, and feel it is their drink too, then the image will change. But first the men who think that they own beer and consider it unfeminine for women to drink it, or the trolls that post insulting comments to women who blog about it, the beer organisations that treat women who like beer or brew it as tokens, must accept that beer is a beverage for everyone - i.e. gender neutral.

Little more than 150 years ago another alcoholic drink had an appalling reputation. It was the drink of the poor, the depraved, the criminal, the hopeless. That drink was gin. Try finding a decent restaurant today that does not serve a G&T from a selection of fashionable brands. Someone decided that gin needed a makeover and now look at it - no longer is it Mother's Ruin, it is a staple of all restaurants. Oh for beer to have that status too.

But I can't wait 150 years for beer to be recognised for what it is - one of the greatest gifts from nature - and to be revered rather than reviled when it comes to stocking the bar in restaurants. Beer is Britain's national drink and brewers here make some of the best beer in the world. Maybe if customers are converted to enjoying beer with their food, restaurants will relent and we will see extensive beer and wine lists. Serve the beer in 250 ml crystal wine glasses and suddenly beer becomes as elegant as its grapey counterpart.

Oenophiles here is your mission. Plan a dinner party and serve the following menu. I've suggested a beer match - you choose the wine for each course. Serve both beer and wine in wine glasses and ask your guests to decide which libation they prefer with the food.

Olives (Bière de garde)
Caesar salad (Wheat beer)
Thai fishcakes (Gueuze or Saison beer)
Cheese board (India Pale Ale or Barley Wine)
Crème brûlée (Kriek or Oak Aged Beer)
Nuts (Dopplebock beer)
Instead of an after dinner coffee serve a glass of porter.

And as for the beer to match with a full English breakfast? Try a German rauchbier. Builder's tea just doesn't cut it.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1696078 2012-07-23T15:52:52-04:00 2012-09-22T05:12:05-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
Well if it does, we'll manage. London always has. That's one reason why it is the greatest city on earth because against all odds, this vast piecemeal urban sprawl of ancient villages and new developments hangs together and works with an attitude like nowhere else.

London - how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Peerless pubs such as the Victoria in Bayswater; breweries and brew-pubs (such as the Botanist in Kew); the tradition of dissent and protest; creativity; free museums such as Sir John Soane's; parks and open spaces; the variety of cuisines; the plethora of spots for afternoon tea; the river; the bicycle hire scheme; markets; sport; cultural activities; the South Bank Centre; the landmarks; architecture; the tolerance of Londoners; the fact that a person who lives here can be who they want to be.

As an adopted Londoner I adore this place - even the bad things about the city (such as white van men who speed down narrow roads purposely aiming for cyclists) make the good things about it seem even better. I am so pleased to live in London and so proud of this unique city that I collaborated with composer Emily Leather, and wrote the lyrics for an anthem to celebrate it. The song is called 'London Town' and it is positive and jolly with a catchy tune that may even spur its listeners to march down the Old Kent Road decked out in pearly buttons. I had not written a song before and now I have I am hooked! What fun it is to come up with the perfect rhyme. My favourite line in the song is 'It's on the prime meridian and makes us go all giddy on, our pride for London Town'. And because there is a big sporting event coming up (did you know?) we've also recorded a version called 'Sporting Town' - same tune and song structure - different lyrics. We're donating a percentage of royalties on both songs and ringtone downloads and merchandise (including a new flag for London designed by Louisa Fitch) to two London charities and also to Oxfam.

Emily and me are now plotting an event for later in the year to get Londoners singing out with pride for the Big Smoke because if there was ever a year to be proud of London then this is it. And not least because singing together spreads joy, builds communities and has proven physical and mental health benefits. How brilliant that something so enjoyable is good for us too.

I'm with Dr Samuel Johnson and his quote "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life for there is in London all that life can afford." So to London's naysayers may I suggest that you sing a happy song - it changes everything!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1555403 2012-06-01T19:00:00-04:00 2012-08-01T05:12:19-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
This is an irresistible opportunity to wave a flag for British booze. Britain excels in brewing and distilling and is arguably the leading nation for the quality and diversity of the alcoholic drinks it produces. Scotch whisky - highly prized around the world, its exports underpin the Scottish economy. Beer - several of the most popular styles brewed throughout the world were invented in England including porter, imperial stout, India pale ale, and barley wine. Cask conditioned, aka real ale, is a peerless British tradition. Cider and perry - I defy anyone to name a country that has so many notable farmhouse cider and perry producers and varieties of apples and pears. Gin - comes in two versions - London and Plymouth, and the recent renaissance in gin consumption has resulted in small producers creating some excellent spirits that can be drunk neat without causing third degree burns to the roof of the mouth. Sparkling wine was invented in England, not France. There is written proof in the archives of the Royal Society. English sparklers have been winning gold medals in blind tastings at international wine competitions. Another reason to stand tall and proud!

Each day should start with a glass of English fizz to awaken the senses. Cornwall's Camel Valley has been described by a leading wine writer as Britain's number one winery and the sparklers they produce are ace. Try the gold medal winning 2010 Cornwall Pinot Noir Rosé Brut for subtle fruity refreshing acidity. And to mark the Jubilee, six Methuselahs were produced (each containing eight bottles) but you may have to commit a crime to secure one.

For a pre-lunch aperitif what else but copy the Queen's habit and have a gin & Dubonnet over ice. Make it with 30% gin from one of two London distillers - Sacred or Sipsmith, and 70% Dubonnet. The latter is a French brand of fortified wine flavoured with herbs and spices. It also contains quinine so is just what the doctor ordered.

For a mid-afternoon restorative go for some fruit in the guise of cider or perry. One of my favourites is the face-scrunchingly tart cider Kingston Black by Gwatkins, but for something less challenging try Marcle Ridge by Dragon Orchard. Perry (sometimes called pear cider) is easy drinking and the Cider & Perry Company in Ross on Wye makes a fine perry from Blakeney Red pears.

When beer o'clock comes there is a plethora of brews to choose. Brewers are renowned for creating celebration ales and this year there is a bumper selection of beers created especially to mark 60 years on the throne.

As there are so many options I will just recommend beers with a story behind them. Let's start with the nearest brewery to Windsor Castle - the Windsor & Eton brewery which has released three inventive Jubilee ales. So far I have tasted two of them and they rock. Treetops is a stout with a twist - in addition to malts and hops, it also contains toasted yams, vanilla pods, and ground coffee - an African nod to the fact that Elizabeth heard the news she had become Queen up a treehouse in Kenya.

Kohinoor is described as a Commonwealth Indies Pale Ale. It contains jaggery (raw cane sugar) widely used in Indian cooking, cardamom pods, jasmine petals, and coriander seeds. The Kohinoor was once the largest diamond in the world and is set into the Queen's coronation crown. Fuller's have produced Hope & Glory - a pale ale made with barley grown on Prince Charles' farm (a variety called Westminster) and flavoured with Sovereign hops. Harvey's in Sussex have revived a barley wine that was created for the coronation in 1953. The 2012 version is called Elizabethan Ale and uses hops grown on farms that supplied the original brew 60 years ago. And an old favourite has received a makeover - Shepherd Neame's Spitfire will be known throughout the summer as Glorious Spitfire.

Where to drink these beers? At the pub. Britons sometimes take for granted the amazing institution that is the public house, but ask a visitor to these shores what they want to do during their stay and it's likely they will say 'go to a pub'. A pub visit is in the Top 10 things that overseas tourists do when in Britain. French writer Hilaire Belloc was spot on when he said "When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves - for you will have lost the last of England." So head down the Queen's Arms and order a pint.

Ready for a nightcap yet? You might need a stiff drink when you hear about a limited edition of 60 bottles of Scotch called Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons. Each one costs £120,000 and comes in a diamond-shaped Baccarat crystal decanter adorned with a silver collar set with a half-carat diamond. The whisky inside is a blend that has been aging since 1952. It was finished in a cask made from oak grown on the Queen's Sandringham estate. Profits will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother) Scholarship charitable fund. To share the whisky love around, visit Norfolk and the English Whisky Company to buy a limited edition single malt called St George's Jubilee Whisky. Fans of Highland Scotch should like its heather and honey character. Or head to the Brecon Beacons national park in Wales and the Penderyn Distillery where the Penderyn Madeira Finished Single Malt is a gold medal winner in the 2012 International Whisky Competition.

God save the Queen and the British pubs and drinks economy!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1394499 2012-04-01T19:00:00-04:00 2012-06-01T05:12:01-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
News outlets never splash the good news about alcohol do they? Because there is good news about booze and has been for the thousands of years that humans have consumed it. Most people drink moderately and neither they nor society suffers ill effects. So for the majority of sensible drinkers I want to celebrate the gift of alcohol and all the benefits humans have gained from it.

In addition to being a beer, cider, and wine tasting tutor, I am an after dinner speaker who talks about the love affair that humans have had with alcohol throughout history. Apart from societies where booze is forbidden an alcoholic drink is a universal symbol of hospitality and friendship. Alcohol features in all our ceremonies, celebrations and rites of passage - from the beginning of life (wetting the baby's head) until the end (the wake).

When we drink alcohol neurotransmitters initiate a reward cascade of compounds in our brains. Dopamine mellows us, and relieves anxiety and depression. Serotonin calms frayed nerves, and mood disorders. Alcohol also releases opioids - elating us and giving temporary relief from pain. It has pronounced effects on major neural pathways in the brain - particularly the emotional centres and those areas concerned with music making and language. Aristophanes knew that when he said "Quick bring me a beaker of wine so that I may wet my mind and say something clever". Humans like the effect alcohol has on their nervous system and it stimulates the 'yes' function, as they don rose coloured spectacles making anything seem possible.

There is a reason why people say "good health" when they toast you because there are health benefits associated with a moderate consumption of alcohol. According to independent medical studies conducted in several countries beer is a wholesome drink packed with soluble nutrition and fibre, a safe source of drinking water, and in some circumstances it can help to prevent kidney stones, gallstones, osteoporosis, dementia, Parkinson's disease, type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, and it may promote levels of 'good' cholesterol.

As for the belly that some people have - it should not be called a beer belly because calorie wise beer is relatively low when compared to other drinks. It should be rebranded as a "kebab on the way home from the pub" belly because that weight is caused by a person's diet, general lifestyle and a lack of exercise.

Alcohol used both internally and externally was a universal palliative in ancient societies such as those in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Greece, and Rome. It was used as an anti-septic, for pain relief, to fight disease, and prolong life. It was also a medium for dissolving and dispensing medicinal herbs, resins, and spices. Fermentation contributes nutrients, flavours, aromas, and increases the nutritional value of food and drink. It supports immune function, and protects against pathogenic organisms. Early humans who drank alcohol were healthier, survived longer, and reproduced more - and that was not just the effect of the beer goggles!

And if all this were not enough, a sensible consumption of alcohol has societal benefits too. It's a superb social lubricant, helping us bond with others, it creates happiness, enjoyment, and community ties. But above all it's fun. So let's hear it for the good news about booze.

Ancient Egyptians who revered beer as central to their culture and synonymous with prosperity and well-being had poetic names for their brews - 'the Beautiful & the Good', 'the Heavenly', 'the Joy-Bringer'. Meanwhile we have 'Wife Beater'. Carol-Ann Duffy - please bring poetry back into beer!
]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1303354 2012-02-29T19:00:00-05:00 2012-04-30T05:12:01-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
Grantham is notable for being the birthplace of Margaret Hilda Roberts, and because out of three breweries in the area two of them have women as principal brewers. That latter fact is notable because women make up fewer than 2% of professional brewers in the UK. So in terms of putting the X chromosome into excellence in brewing Grantham leads the way.

So how did I pass into beer-vana? It began when I met Sara Barton of Brewster's Brewing Company and expressed my desire to brew beer in a brewery rather than something made at home that only a best friend would drink under duress. Her two word answer was 'Do it'. So I did. In collaboration with two other beer evangelists, Marverine Cole, and Shea Luke we devised a recipe, and arose at dawn on brew day and headed up to Grantham.

Brewing is a form of extreme cooking - choosing and preparing the ingredients; pouring them into an enormous pan, and stirring the mixture using not a wooden spoon, but a rake; boiling the ingredients to extract flavour, and then doing the washing up - on a gargantuan scale. But unlike kitchen cooking the finished product takes a few weeks as it ferments and matures turning by magic into the world's favourite alcoholic drink - beer.

Don't bother to sign up for a gym membership - just work in a brewery! It's really physical work hauling around bags of malted cereal, and mixing it with water in the mash tun to create the wort (sugary water containing colour and flavour from the malt), sorting hops into buckets and lugging them up a ladder to be poured into the copper brewing kettle. Wait for a few hours until everything cooks and the brew is ready to dispatch into the fermenting vessels. Pour the yeast into a bucket with some wort. It needs stirring as it grows before your very eyes when the yeast cells devour the sugar and clone themselves trillions of times. Finally ascend the ladder and pitch the precious concoction into the fermenting tank. Now the yeast performs its miracle as it consumes the cereal sugars and converts them to alcohol and carbon dioxide through the gift of fermentation.

Medieval brewers called yeast 'Godisgood' because they did not understand what was happening during fermentation and assumed it was divine intervention. It's easy to understand why because this is the alchemy of brewing as water, hops, malt (and in our beer's case cinnamon, and Fairtrade cocoa) are transformed with the aid of a single-celled organism called yeast into something sublime.

But back to the prosaic aspect of brewing. The clean-up. This entailed lots of washing of vessels and floors, raking out piles of porridge-like malt from the mash tun, and then crawling into the copper to extract by hand thousands of steeped hop flowers. The spent malt and hops eventually ended up on a farm as livestock feed. Lucky cows!

At the end of brew day we gently tapped the fermenting vessel and said goodbye to the beer inside and went to the pub. A perfect end to a perfect day.

During the following weeks Sara sent thrilling updates on the progress of the brew using phrases such a 'terminal gravity has been reached' which in lay terms means 'the level of alcohol'; and tantalizing us with descriptions of its taste as the beer matured.

Now it is ready to drink and we're having a launch party in early March. Want to come? If you like Porter beers with added spice and chocolate then this is your beer. And the dream continues because a major pub-owning brewery is stocking it as a guest ale in a handful of their London pubs. So if you fancy a pint you'll have to push me and my brewing compadres out of the way at the bar because we intend to enjoy the memory of brew day until the beer runs out. Bottoms up!]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1207310 2012-01-19T19:00:00-05:00 2012-03-20T05:12:01-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/ The Archers are reading this - I have a few friends who long to join your cider club.

It's true that five years ago they would have thought cider was something that only characters in Thomas Hardy novels and school kids in bus shelters consumed, but today cider is back big time. I don't mean the cheap fizzy alcoholic apple juice sold in supermarkets, that has never been away.

No, I'm talking about real cider made from the perfumed juice of malus domestica and varieties such as Beauty of Kent, Sugarloaf Pippin, and Cornish Gilliflower, which is fermented and then aged for a few months in oak barrels.

Norman invaders into England were partial to cider and certainly popularised its consumption in Blighty introducing new varieties of apples. Apples were already growing in England before Romans settled and it was those colonists who organised the cultivation of orchards. The term cider entered the English language as a corruption of sekar, a Hebrew word for strong drink which itself derived from the ancient Greek sikera.

Several reasons account for today's boom in cider. Britons increasingly explore local food and drink made with passion by humans, rather than faceless corporations; consumer lobbying group CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) has supported craft cider and perry (fermented pear juice) for years and given it prominence at beer festivals; cider is perceived as being natural and attracts people who care about what they consume; cider has no gender associated with it the way that beer and wine has - so men and women drink it.

But more than anything it was an advertising campaign and some genius product placement that reminded drinkers that cider is a major aspect of Britain's drinking tradition. Do you remember a few years ago a TV ad in which beautiful young professional people lazed around in a bucolic idyll as they had fun and sipped a brand of Irish cider? Despite it being as near to a natural craft cider as a Trabant car is to a Mercedes, it did the trick and millions of people suddenly saw cider as something stylish and aspirational.

Then the company's marketing team had a brilliant idea. Serve it over ice. At the time that particular cider was only available in bottles. Bar staff were instructed to fill a glass with ice and this meant that not all the cider would fit into the glass so people had to take the bottle to their table. Voilà - other pub customers noticed the bottle and the label and wanted to try one of those fashionable icy potions. Cider was back on the menu.

Other commercial cider makers saw an opportunity to promote their brands to this burgeoning market. And thanks to that splash in the cider lake, the ripples have reached the traditional and farmhouses cider makers particularly in Somerset, Devon, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, and their hand-crafted products are increasingly available further afield, not least in the capital.

For cider-loving Londoners and commuters in and out of Euston station something thrilling recently happened. Euston Cider Tap opened - a dedicated cider house with a selection of brands that most people have never heard of, never mind tasted before. As a reminder that this is authentic cider and perry, made on a farm, not in a factory, a hay bale sits in the corner of the room.

My default drink choice is ale and I am a member of a group of female drinks journalists who go on beer safaris to try out new pubs. Two members of the group, Henrietta Clancy and Susanna Forbes of Drink Britain are eminence grises of cider and perry and their enthusiasm has prompted me to order the apples and pears more often.

And since I read a 17th century quotation by John Evelyn - diarist, tree expert, and founding member of the Royal Society: "Generally all strong and pleasant cider excites and cleanses the stomach, strengthens digestion, and infallibly frees the kidneys and bladder from breeding the gravel stone", I understand now why an apple a day keeps the doctor away! ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1196194 2012-01-10T08:19:39-05:00 2012-03-11T05:12:01-04:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/ Rule Britannia. I particularly relish the trill of notes on the word 'first' ('When Britain first at heaven's command') not least because I have recently learned the correct musical term for a syllable sung with several notes in succession is 'melisma'. Warbling first thing in the morning lifts my spirits so much that singing should be prescribed on the NHS! That may not be as daft as it sounds because singing is good for physical and psychological health.

Singing improves circulation and digestion, and being an aerobic exercise also increases oxygen levels in the blood. Lung capacity is expanded and when airflow is enhanced in the respiratory tract, bacteria have less chance to flourish so this can counter cold symptoms. And because it requires deep breathing singing is a stress-buster, lowering blood pressure, and is good for the nervous system. It boosts immunity by producing proteins that function as anti-bodies. Even muscles in the face and the stomach are toned and it improves posture. Forget Pilates - just join a choir.

And there's more - the psychological benefits. Singing triggers the release of feel-good endorphins which make a person feel happier and more positive. Those endorphins are also natural pain-killers, and natural anti-depressants. Happier people often have fewer physical health problems. All that just by opening the mouth, and it doesn't matter if you're out of tune. Sing hallejuiah come on get happy!

This year at the Christmas carol concert in my Yorkshire Dales village the congregation chortled when the organist announced that we would sing Whilst Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night and then struck up the unmistakable chords of On Ilkley Moor bah't 'at. Try it, the words fit perfectly. We sang with gusto and for those minutes were bonded in our joint laughter and enjoyment of the subversion of a traditional carol. Then we all went to the pub and even people who did not know each other were smiling and chatting happily at the adaptability of Ilkley's anthem.

Singing is fun, joyful and uplifting - giving us a natural high. Witness the crowds in Liverpool's Kop singing You'll Never Walk Alone and the Barmy Army belting out Swing Low Sweet Chariot. It's an incredible adrenaline rush. And it's not just the singers who benefit - the sportsmen on the pitch do too by being one of the tribe - even it does not always translate into a winning result.

Choirs and singing groups are flourishing around the country helping people connect, make friends, and form social bonds. David Cameron and the Big Society take note - people in choirs may be more likely to be involved in their communities.

I rue the passing of the era when people gathered for a sing-song around the old Joanna because I grew up with memories of my great aunt Sabina hosting jollifications which always ended with everyone singing into the early hours. No-one ever refused an invitation because fun was guaranteed. And as for the health benefits of singing - aunt Sabina lived to 101 years.

In memory of that wonderful woman and the joy she brought, I am on a mission to encourage more people to stand and sing around pianos whether that is in a pub, village hall, or at home. I'm lucky because part of my work involves producing musical events so I know professional opera singers and a brilliant pianist, Emily Leather who can play almost any song you request. If you want a thrill try hitting some high notes in a duet with an opera singer. Whatever anyone ever says about chocolate, white water rafting, or sex, that is even better!

My New Year's resolution is to inspire more people to sing opera karaoke to lift the spirits during the winter months before the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and Olympics and Paralympics celebrations start in Summer. So all you budding Carmens and Simon Boccanegras get ready - you may end up at the Royal Opera House - even if it is just busking outside.

Message to Secretary of State for Health: Mr Lansley how about allocating some of the health budget to the installation of karaoke booths in every community hall in the land. Just think of all the money that could be saved overall when the feel-good factor of singing translates into a healthier population. After all as the saying goes 'He who sings frightens away all his ills'. ]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1189201 2012-01-06T19:00:00-05:00 2012-03-07T05:12:01-05:00

Jane Peyton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-peyton/
It's a golden age for brewing with more than 840 breweries beavering away to produce our national drink.

But my elation was slightly muted when I worked out how many of those breweries had female brewers. Less than 2%.

Such an irony considering women were the original brewers of beer, at least 7,000 years ago, and for the majority of those millennia women were the primary brewers.

Beer is food, a beverage that was consumed as part of the daily diet and women were in charge of food production. But 79% of women in Britain never or rarely drink beer.

Why? Beer is a natural product, packed with nutrition and in moderation has proven health benefits. It is much lower in alcohol than wine or spirits, measure for measure has fewer calories than wine and the connection with beer and bellies is a myth!

The trouble is, in Britain, beer is perceived by many women as being 'blokey', bitter flavoured, fattening, and not for them.

But beer is a drink for all, with over 100 different styles, from light spritzy refreshing quenchers, to dense and dark Imperial Stouts. Somewhere in that plethora of flavours there is a beer for the dissenters. And as well as being delicious, convivial, and making people happy of all alcoholic drinks, it is the most healthful. But to encourage more women to brew and drink it, we need more women to brew and drink it.

How to stop the dog chasing its own tail? What about a competition for women to invent their own beer recipe? And whoever wins will brew their recipe with professional brewer, Sara Barton of Brewsters Brewery. If it tastes good it may go on sale through Brewsters' outlets. That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm running a competition open to women everywhere to devise their perfect beer.

To make this competition even tastier, entrants will take inspiration from Britain's leading producer of Fairtrade chocolate, Divine, and devise a beer recipe inspired by one of their brands. Sexual stereotyping? Mea culpa! But desperate measures are necessary to change some women's perception of beer, and if they realise that many beers are an amazing match for chocolate, it may tempt them to give beer a chance.

So why not become a 21st century goddess of beer and enter the competition to brew Ninkasi's Nectar. We want to hear from you. Click here for the details, or email ninkasi@school-of-booze.com for details.

Having dreamt about brewing for so long I am putting my beer where my mouth is and joining forces with two other beer-tastic female friends - Marverine Cole and Shea Luke to brew our very first beer at Brewsters Brewery.

It will be bottled soon after. I can imagine myself in my beer lair, surrounded by bottles of the (hopefully) magical brew deciding whether to be selfish and keep it all for myself, or share the love and give it away to female beer foes with a bar of Divine Dark Chocolate with Orange & Ginger, then wait for the enchantment to strike.

Or maybe I'll throw a party and we'll raise our glasses to those unknown women who first realised that fermented water and malt was extraordinary. Want to come?

Happy New Beer!]]>