Gin in June: Gin and Tonic on Gin Day, or just Qcumber on June 9th, and Distillery tours

Photos from the producers.

Problem
Gin in June is amusingly alliterative. However, my first thought was a bit negative: not another nonsense day promoting food and drinks on a random day! Well, why not? Get everybody in the business and all the consumers together to learn the origins of an old food or drink and try a new one.

Why should I care about gin, as spirits are too strong for me? My first thought is that I don't drink gin or know anybody who does, but, wait a minute, on second thoughts, gin and tonic is a favourite of one member of my family, and lots of guests ask for a gin of tonic when a round of drinks is ordered before a meal. Let's take a quick look.

Gin is also the base ingredient for my favourite cocktail on Singapore Airlines, the Singapore Sling.

Answers
The past of gin and tonic
What do I and you already know? Looking back at the history of the drink, the Western connection is that the word gin is like Jennifer the girl's name and comes from juniper.

The Eastern connection is that Gin and tonic was drunk in places such as Raffles hotel in Singapore to take away the nasty taste of the quinine in tonic, taken to ward off malaria.

The present and future of gin and tonic
Recently, the gin and tonic business has been given a tonic or boost by a UK company. Usually we add cucumber to the top of the glass when serving. Cucumber is a refreshing summer staple, like cucumber sandwiches, no longer in vogue, but once a Victorian staple to provide a mosit centre as well as one widely avialable, vegetarian, lots going for cucumber then and now. A new on the block compay has created a cucumber gin. Is it really refreshing or just a gimmick? You decide.

Why Try?
I always think anything is worth trying once. May I revise that statement? I think anything is worth trying three times. I didn't like yogurt the first time I tried it. The second time I was given flavoured yogurt. I liked it. The third time I was given plain yogurt again, and this time I liked it.

So have a look at the gin. At least the bottle is amusing - and something new if you are looking for a novelty gift for somebody who has everything.

Not just one gin. You have a choice:

Pink Gin - here's what their website says:

Classic Pink Gin

The English Drinks Company’s Classic Pink Gin is a delicious blend of traditionally crafted gin together with the subtle flavours of pomegranate and chinchona bark leading to a delicate, smooth taste to suit all palates.

Chinchona bark - that's new to me.

On your flight you can order a gin and tonic. I always ask for water as well, with alcohol or wine. I am relaxed and smiling at my fellow passengers and the airline staff. Gin and grin.

A few fast facts:
The promotion will be on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all over the net.
World Gin Day, Saturday June 9th.

No Alcohol, please!
If it's too early in the day, or you never drink alcohol, (because of your pills or principles) they offer Qcumber, a mixture of cucumber and sparkling water.

Qcumber is 'an adult drink', non-alcholic, refreshing and sugar free. Use it as a mixer with gin or in Pimms. One customer reviewer suggested it goes well with curry.

Recipes:


The English Drinks Company are not the only people producing gin in England. You can visit distilleries in London and elsewhere.

Gin Distillery Visits in the UK
London
Cotswolds
Plymouth

Useful Websites:
UK
http://www.englishdrinkscompany.co.uk/
visitbritain.com
singaporeair.com
https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/05/the-best-gin-distillery-tours-in-the-uk-the-perfect-christmas-present-for-the-gin-hound-in-your-life-6950189/
http://www.cityoflondondistillery.com/tours-with-gin-tasting/ (Chickwick, London, England)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aszDOcG_gDI (Sipsmith distillery, Chiswick, London, England, virtual tour)
https://www.theginstitute.com/the-experience/ (The Distillery Shop and tasting events to buy online - with a great website showing the history of gin, grim gin era, golden gin era and ginaissance.)
https://www.cotswoldsdistillery.com/tours
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-nottinghamshire-44342354/former-nottingham-plumber-s-gin-wins-world-award

Netherlands:
http://www.noletdistillery.com/en/agecheck

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See next post for gin-based Singapore Sling.

Looking for a Michelin starred chicken rice in Singapore - or any chicken rice, or the same style in Melbourne, Australia

Problem
Where is it? Who runs it?

Answers
The chicken rice vendor was awarded a Michelin star in 2016 and since then he has expanded his business in Asia and had a successful pop-up in London which had huge queues and sold out of food.

Chicken rice is one of the signature dishes of Singapore.  You'll find it in every hawker centre. Cheap and filling, usually sold with soup, yes a bowl of soup. Chicken soup?

Check how much chicken you are getting. You might be disappointed. You might want to order another different dish, or two portions, or share with somebody else who is less keen on chicken than you are.

Consider the price you are paying. Tell the vendor you are hungry. You may find that by the time you have eaten the rice and soup and ordered a large juice from another stall, you are quite full.

What does the Michelin star chicken rice have which is different? The price in London was £6. The secret is not just the soy sauce, which other places offer, but apparently using smaller chickens so that the juice penetrates through and steeping them in juice all morning so that by lunchtime they are succulent.

Now flights from London to Singapore take about 12 hours. So you cannot expect Mr Chan to be in London for one meal and in Asia overseeing the cooking the next moment. (His name can be spelled Chan Hong Men, surnames first in Asia, like in British public schools. (Aside - for the benefit of my American readers, public schools in England are what Americans call private schools, what Americans can public schools we call council schools of state schools.)

If Mr Chan expands to more than one restaurant in Singapore, or across Asia, what guarantee is there that you will get the same quality? I am not bothered. I reckon it's like the McDonalds or KFC. The person who starts the business has a system which all the restaurants follow.

In most hawker centres when you order chicken rice, check the pictures. You can see that you don't get a solid piece of chicken, but strips or semi-circles arranged in a fan.

The cucumber is just two circles. Not a lot of vegetable. If you are a meat and two veg person, and want your 7 (yes seven) portions of veg a day, you might be better off ordering a second vegetarian dish. That way you can be sure of getting vegetables.

You might see a higher priced meal, usually another 'set' short for set meal, with more ingredients or larger portions.

Mr Chan is Malaysian, but Malaysian Chinese. You can tell he is Chinese by the name, consisting of three short syllables, surname first. Remember the late, great Lee Kuan Yew.

Malaysia has its own cuisine of halal meat, sometimes potato, and often shellfish in the rice. Often more spicy. The Malays are more happy-go-lucky. The Chinese in Malaysia are busy business people.

So, you can get chicken rice anywhere. But if you are happy to pay a bit more, try the Michelin rated chicken rice.

Several other places in Singapore received Michelin stars in 2017.

SINGAPORE
Hawker Chan, 8 Smith Street, Singapore 058972
tel +65 6272 2000

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Hawker Chan
157 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000
Australia
tel: +61 3 9650 8808
hawkerchan.com.au

How do you know he is Chinese? All the lucky eights in the phone number.

It's amazing what detailed and relevant information you can get from the web nowadays. Google will tell you if the place is open now, so without knowing the time zone you can phone and make an enquiry or booking from another country.

I even got the waiting times. Plus, of course, a complete range of customers opinions from the delighted to the disgruntled.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/michelin-starred-hawker-chan-draws-long-queues-with-new-outlet-in-melbourne
https://www.tripadvisor.com.sg/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294265-d
https://guide.michelin.sg/en/2017-MICHELIN-guide-Singapore-full-results-restaurants

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have many more posts on food in Singapore, Changi aiport and destinations worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts

How to ask for food and wine in Romania - and translating

Problem
You can read the words and point, but that leaves you at the level of grunting.

Answers
Google translate and Duolingo will teach you a few sentences. Copy down the ones you are likely to need.

English - Romanian
a - o
cucumber - castravete (sounds and looks like the word castrated. I leave you to imagine a visual reminder.)
i n g h e t a t a - ice cream
please - Vă dog
thank you - mulțumesc
water - apă
we have - noi a v e m

Do you have any sandwiches? - Aveți sandvișuri
I would like some water, please? - Aș vrea ceta apă (from Google translate)
I would like some more. - Aș vrea may mult
Where is the toilet? May I have the bill?

Using Google Translate
If you copy anything from Google translate and then delete it, you are likely to be left with the embedded line breaks which messes up anything you type afterwards. That's why this page looks funny. 

Stories
You could use Google translate on your phone to show to people in a restaurant. However, I would not rely on this. We thought we would be able to do this in Italy and Cambodia but it rarely worked. 

If the server is busy, they won't wait but dash off to other tables. You might find your phone is dropped and broken (which happened to us in Italy).

You might forget or lose the piece of paper when you change jackets. In the evening I left my vital words behind when I opted for a smaller handbag in the evening. My phone battery died in the evening because I took so many videos during the day.

So on my next trip I shall print out vital words and give it to each member of the family (with a spare copy for anybody who wants one). Then everybody has one if you separate. You have a backup

Unde este toaleta? Pot avea proiectul de lege?

How long does it take? Something quick, please. We are in a hurry.

Cât durează? Ceva rapid, te rog. Ne grăbim.

We would like a table for two. 

Am v r e a  o masă pentru d o i

By the window.

Pe fereastră.

Do you have a room for two. With a nice view. We are keen photographers.

Aveți o cameră pentru doi. Cu o vedere frumoasă. Suntem fotografi dornici.

Romanian - English
i n g h e t a t a (imagine eating a hat for hot weather is the accent over the i and the accent over the last letter a is bowl for ice cream ) - ice cream (both words starts with i and contain e and a)
noi a v e m - we have
o - a

Pronunciation Tips
Wikitravel has the best quick guide to pronunciation. For example,
c is like k, except when followed by i as in the Italian word for goodbye, ciao, when the c sound like ch, and the same applies to ce - sounds like ch.
I with a peaked hat accent above and A with a peaked hat accent above are the same sound.

More Translation Choices
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/translate/
This website gives you pretty pictures down the screen page for alternative languages.

Tips
http://romaniatourism.com
https://www.duolingo.com/
 See my other posts on Romanian, Italian, German, Spanish and other languages and travel to Italy, Romania and other countries. Please save, bookmark, and share links to your favourite posts.

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

English tea time: cucumber, white and brown bread, high tea

Sitting down to tea, after reading books about how people live in other times and other countries, you may feel that you are leading a relatively uneventful life. Yet the tea table before you has links to other eras and other countries, or contrasts with what you have experienced previously.

Outside the window of the room where I had tea recently, at a friens new home, I enjoyed seeing every room of the house, especially the kitchen. I looked out at the back garden with the lawn, contrasting with the front driveway of many houses in the street, covered in to allow car parking. I had previously taken a tour of the house, en route to the downstairs cloakroom. Now I looked out of the kitchen window, admiring the long lawn at the back of the house.

In Medieval times you had a meadow with grass and colourful perfumed flowers. Along came lawn tennis. Then lawn mowers. So in Victorian times, in a large house with a grassed lawn, you might watch croquet or clock golf or cricket played on the field or lawn.

Afterwards, in mid-afternoon, as either owner of the property, or a guest you ate cucumber sandwiches on white bread for tea. Tea was a meal between luncheon and dinner.

In the North of England in winter you came home when it got dark and cold. Electric lights in and around the house were installed in various years, as you can check, along with street lighting. Your local library will tell you about street lighting in your nearest city, town or village.

How can you find out? When writing about an ancestor of mine who lived in the East End of London in my novel I struggled to find out. The electric lights in the USA were better documented on the web than the lighting in London.

If you go to the North of England and Scotland you can still get High Tea. This is a half way meal combining tea and a snack supper. You start with savoury and end with sweet, maybe start with hot and end with cold, such as a grill or sandwiches or toast with something on top followed by cold cakes or if you prefer, hot pancakes.

Tea Time
Some schools and old people's homes would and still do serve a High Tea or early supper, at 5.30 or six o'clock. Meals get later as you go further south. In Europe, the latest would be the 9 pm or 10 pm meal in a restaurant in Spain.

It was easier to send the hero of my novel on a trip to another city, where his relatives were excited about the new lighting, than to leave him in London, where he might have been in the dark, at least the novel's author was in the dark.

Lights
Maybe the records of the electric light companies, the sales of light bulbs and records or household expenses will also give you a clue as to whether your ancestors or the people who used to live in your house had candles, gas light, or electric lights in the city or home.

Lighting up times, dawn and dusk, will affect the working day, the building of a house, school finishing time (allowing time for children to walk home, before the universal bus routes). You are cold and tired and hungry, or hot and tired and hungry, when you arrive home after a long walk (even costume drama ladies walking for a chat or riding a horse might be tired.

In Singapore at a Eurasian club we were served hot in both senses, curried food. In India it would be rice in the north. In China you would have rice in the north, noodles in the south. Back to Singapore, majority Chinese, but the Eurasian club was for Indians or rather mostly ex-past British or other white men with their exotically dressed Indian wives, who presumably liked curry (as did nay grandfather in London who died in 1950 - never went to India as far as I know and alas it's now too late to ask my late parents or y grandparents how he acquired this taste. Maybe Queen Victoria had made curry popular in his youth. Does anybody know?

The Eurasian club served me sandwiches using white bread. They serve whatever the organisers ask for, which might be savoury food followed by cold cake or biscuit or the modern substitutes, crisps and nuts and nibbles.

Back in London, I enjoy tea with my book group friends. They are mostly ladies (some of them belong to several book groups, at least two, sometimes three groups). Occasionally this group is joined by a husband, author, or retired gentleman has the time and inclination to read the latest price-winning book and offer a verdict. We have a mix of shop-bought and home catering.

My previous post describes the 'bridge rolls'. The afternoon's hostess told us they were not bridge rolls, but better than bridge rolls, less heavy, less bready, more light and more moist. I took a picture of the wrapper. I thought it was easier to give another family member the wrapper when they went shopping, and easier for them or me to show to a shop assistant. Weeks later the wrapper picture is still on my computer, whereas a name written on a scrap of paper would disappear.

The rolls are called Mini White Submarine Rolls. The white ones look more like the traditional bridge roll. They come in packs of eight which will make 16 half pieces, enough to fill one long oblong plate. We had a mixture of brown and white rolls, which adds visual appeal.

Angela Lansbury, author, researcher, speaker.