What to look for in Apples, Pears, Cider, Calvados and holiday drinks

Problem
What's the difference between apples, pears, and cider and Calvados? Where will I find them?

Answer
I used to love cider and drank it all the time as a low alcohol drink before I got into wine. Cider is not as popular, with me, and the public, as it once was. (Cider producers may say differently.) Nowadays supermarkets selling drinks and restaurants have a huge range of other items to offer, wines, beers, even bottled water, to compete for the customer's attention.

Travelling To England and France
Two great cider producing regions are southern England and Northern France. If you want to explore both, you can go across from England to France by ferry or train as a foot passenger or with a car, or fly or fly-drive. If you go to England and / or France you'll find a large range of ciders all over the countries of France and England but especially in supermarkets and restaurants in these regions.

Story
Singapore
You will find cider worldwide. In Singapore we never noticed it until we needed it. In Singapore we bought cider in a supermarket to make onion chutney. We had to buy a four pack of cider.

Calvados
If you can't decide which you want, apples or pears, or want both, Calvados is the drink for you.
Calvados is type of drink combining, blending, both apples and pears. One producer has to have a minimum of a certain amount of pear juice, whilst another is limited to a maximum!

In June 217 I received an email proudly announcing that an English cider had won an award. They say:

Devon-based Lyme Bay Winery’s newly rebranded Jack Ratt Sparkling Cider has received a Silver Medal in the Design and Packaging category at this year’s International Cider Challenge, an awards scheme which celebrates the best ciders across the globe.

Tips from Websites
English Tourist Board
French Tourist Board
Cider

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Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several previous posts giving more detail on cider. Please bookmark and share posts.

This week's Americanisms and Britishisms: Grocers, closets and wardrobes

Flag of the USA

American - British
the grocery store - the greengrocers
store - shop, department store, big store (a small shop or one man business is not called a store. In Britain 'a store' is a huge place for storage like a warehouse)
closet - wardrobe (Very few people in the UK have houses big enough for a walk in closet); WC is short for water closet The word closet is no longer used. Closet is used as a synonym for hiding place. Coming out of the closet - outing yourself.)
hard cider - cider
apple juice (filtered and pateurized) - apple juice
cider - freshly pressed unfiltered apple juice
hard cider - cider

UK flag

British - American (alphabetical)
Apple juice - filtered and pasteurized apple juice
cider - hard cider

corner shop - convenience store
department store, shop - store 
freshly pressed, unfiltered apple juice - cider
grocers - grocery store
general store - hardware shop

wardrobe / walk-in wardrobe - closet
 

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and languages.

Trees you should see on your travels and what they give you

As you travel you see trees which provide shade in summer and a pleasant environment. They also contribute to your country's economy, and that of the country where you are taking a trip. Here are some examples:

Maple Trees And Maple Syrup
The maple trees you see in Canada provide maple syrup. Most of the world's maple syrup comes from Canada. Maple trees grow in other countries but it is not economic to make maple syrup. The Canadian maple tree provides maple syrup, contributing to their economy, brightens up my breakfast porridge in London and Singapore, supplies supermarket shelves around the world (it's there, if you look for it). The maple trees contribute to the colours of autumn or fall, as one says in Canada and the USA. It is the symbol on the flag and on many souvenirs you buy in Canada and overseas.

Apple Trees and Apple Cider
In America apple trees were supposedly spread by Johnny Appleseed who marched along, eating apples, and dropping the cores and spreading the pips. Apple trees provide apples.

England is famous for Cox's orange pippins. Gardens in England often have apple trees.

In London we also have the French apple Golden Delicious.

Cider, and Calvados (apple brandy, distilled) are made in Northern France where you can buy them from places doing tours and their shops, as well as trying them in restaurants.

Increasingly over the last decade we have been importing apples from Australia and New Zealand which were never known in England in the 1950s and 1960s in my late parent's life as young marrieds post world war II. You will see Gala apples and Pink Lady in the UK. They are now everyday items in Tesco and Waitrose and other supermarkets in the UK.

From Australia we get Granny Smith's. You pass the place where Granny Smith grew her apples on a coach tour south of Sydney, Australia.

Pear Tree Products
In England pear trees are less common, but also get planted alongside the apple trees in English garden. (Alas the pear tree in my old home in England has died this year, after getting some kind of patchy orange spot blight on the leaves last year.)

In Northern France they grow pear trees making perry. Some Calvados has pear juice mixed. (I asked my wine expert who Pay d'ays and poe jontais? has pear juice too. I shall look that up later today.

Cherry Trees and Kirsch
Cherry trees are a feature of Washington DC in the USA in spring time. The trees were given by Japan as a peace offering after the end of WWII. We also have a lot of cherry trees in London suburbs.

Kirsch is made from cherries.

Almond Trees
Yes, obviously almonds, almonds to eat, as a snack food.

In France I had trout with almonds at a restaurant. The French cake friand can be made with almonds. I tried a friand with almond and lemon in London. (See my previous post.) Apparently, according to an article quoted in Wikipedia, the friands are also popular in Australia and New Zealand. I must admit I never noticed them in Australia or New Zealand. Perhaps they were there but not mentioned by name, or I saw the name but was not as interested and intrigued then as I am now.

In England, a great chocolate eating country, we have Cadbury's fruit and nut chocolate.

Many cakes are contain ground almonds. Macaroons.

You can also make almond flour and almond milk.

Walnut Trees
Walnut trees provide walnuts to eat. Walnut wood is used for furniture.

Olive Trees
You see olive trees in hot countries. I saw olive trees in Malta. I had not taken much notice of the gnarled trees lining the streets until I noticed loves underfoot.

Palms, pines, pineapples, dates, coconuts
Add pine trees, pine nuts, palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, coconut palms, date palms providing dates all around the Mediterranean, which are imported from Morocco, and Israel, especially popular at Christmas but available all year.  Coconuts provide coconuts to eat, coconut milk to drink in Singapore and Malaysia and Thailand at restaurants and hotels and from roadside stalls. I took a tour of a pineapple plantation and canning factory in Hawaii. Pine furniture is available  , increasingly taken over from other woods.

English Oaks and Other Woods
The English oak tree was used for building boats and making furniture. In the USA many houses are built with wooden frames. Plus of course floorboards, beams, floorboards, fittings and furniture and finally wooden fences around property.

Scandinavian Fir Trees
From Norway we get the Norway spruce, the Christmas tree which appears in Trafalgar square in London every Xmas time.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Factory Tours and Factory Shops Worldwide

You can visit factories making toys, clothes, shoes, chocolates, cider, beer, whisky, pottery, silk, batik, jewellery and many more. Here are some of my favourite factory tours.

England
Lots of chocolate shops offering chocolate making courses in London and around England.
https://www.facebook.com/Bianca.Marton.Chocolates/photos/pb.267376836614050.-2207520000.1444593023./1055111944507198/?type=3&theater just won an award.

Cadbury chocolate near Birmingham

Cadbury's chocolate shop, and tours are so popular that you are advised to book

D e n b i e s  indoor winery or outdoor vineyard tours. Restaurant, shop etc.

France
Cider factory tours in north France.
Champagne tours in Rheims

Korea
Amethyst jewellery factory.

Netherlands
Diamonds in Amsterdam
Delft pottery in Delft.
Tulips.

Scotland
Whisky distilleries.

Singapore
yakult singapore factory tour

Spain
Rioja - small town with several wineries offering tours

Switzerland
Chocolate factory A l p r o s e

Wales
Vineyard tours

USA
Hershey factory shop in New York

Vineyard tours in California north of San Francisco.

Many city tours include a stop at a factory shop.
You might be given a sticker for a discount. If on your own, look in maps given away free at the airport for discounts at factory shops.

Several books give factory tours. Tourist boards in each country can tell you what is open each season.

See my later post on chocolate week in October
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and Photographer.

French words you use or recognise in English

Mont Saint-Michel and words such as cider
From a leaflet promoting a place which invited you to a free tasting of Normandy products opposite Mont Saint-Michel I noticed lots of French words which I and you would recognise.


face (a or au) - facing
produit - product
producteur - producer
Mont - mount / mountain
aperitif - aperitif
cidre - cier
jus - juice
liqueur - liqueur
creme - cream
biscuits - biscuits
possibilite - possibility
saint - saint
michel - Michael
point - point
entree - entry
sortie - exit / way out
fabrication - fabrication or manufacture
artisanale - artisanal
age - age
ans - years (like the English word annual)
regionaux - regional
cave - cave or cellar
poire - pear

I found these words on a flyer for a business offering free tastings, opposite Mont Saint-Michel.
www.calvados-montsaintmichel.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.

PS
entente cordiale
entourage