4 INTERESTING FACTS THAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW

Here you have 4 interesting alcoholic facts that you might not know:

1. Do you think that Vodka Smirnoff is Russian vodka? The answer is no. Smirnoff is a brand that belongs to the British company Diageo, with headquarters in London. However, this vodka is produced near Glasgow, in Scotland. It is true that before belonging to Diageo, Smirnoff was located in Moscow Russia.

2. Did you know that in the State of Tenessee, where the bourbon Jack Daniel is distilled it is illegal to sell wine and liqueurs? According to the Alcohol laws of Tenessee and the Tenessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission is illegal to sell wine and liqueurs, so also Jack Daniels is banned from being sold. That is why citizens from Tennessee have to go other states to buy Jack Daniels.

3. Did you know that cognac was invented by a French entrepreneur that wanted to avoid paying taxes? A French wine producer wanted to export his wine to the UK, but the taxes in the border where so high. The taxes were paid according to the amount of litres that you wanted to export. So, the French exporter decided to distilled the wine a couple of times and suddenly cognac turn up.

4. Do you know that the vast majority of the beer Moritz is produced near Zaragoza in Aragón? There are some people in Catalunya that are so proud of Moritz of being Catalan. I do not have anything against that, but the factory is located in Aragón, not in Catalunya.

Do you know any more interesting facts? I encourage you to share them on twitter to @unvinegre. Thank you very much.

Cheers!

CATALAN COMPANIES AND THE SPECIALITY FINE FOOD FAIR (TRADE FAIRS)

Today’s post is about a fair that has been done in London (UK) from the 7^th of September until today. In this post I will also talk about the Catalan presence and I will try to explain why according to my opinion Catalan companies should have more presence in this kind of fairs.

The fair is called The Speciality Fine Food Fair 2014 and it has been done in Olympia, in London. It is a fair, as its name indicates, about local and international food and drinks. In this year’s edition there have been more than 1000 expositors from worldwide. In general it is focused on small producers and distributors, not big companies.

In this fair just 4 expositors where from Catalunya: BB Chocolate Group, Lets Chocolat, Mariscal & Sarroca and Marques de Guadalmima. So, just few Catalan food companies have come to this fair. To my mind, as I said above, the number of Catalan companies should have been bigger.  The reasons for that are that this fair is very important in the food sector and because it is focused on small companies it is perfect for a Catalan company. The average size of companies in Catalunya is small and medium size so that The Speciality Fine Food Fair 2014 is perfect for them. In addition, Catalan demand (and also Spanish) is stagnated. Consequently, if a company wants to increase its invoicing or, at least survive, the internationalisation could be a really good solution. And a good way to begin the process of internationalisation is through international fairs. But companies should choose the proper fair for them and prepare them with time and with enough resources. What is more, because not all fairs are useful or worth going as an expositor we should ask ourselves what a fair is. In theory fairs are a place where demand meets offer. In other words, a place to try to sale a product or a service.

 On the other hand, fairs are a product, like any other that has to be sold. The company that organises the fair has the incentive to say that companies should go to their fair even if it is not true. So, companies should analyse whether or not go to the fair as an expositor. Then, once the company has studied the possibility of going to a fair and decides to go, it has to take into account that going to a fair is an investment for the company, never expenditure.  Related to that, like any other investment, it is important to say that the results of the investment could come up in the midterm. It is not common to have returns the day after investing. However, going to the wrong fair or without enough preparation, it could be a disaster for the company.

For next year’s edition, I really would like to see more Catalan companies trying to find distributors and agents, promote their products and try to sell them. I totally encouraged companies to go abroad: the world is bigger than Catalonia or Spain...

L'ARRÒS I L'EMPORDÀ

Es nota que sóc un enamorat de l’Empordà. De nou torno a parlar d’un producte d’aquesta comarca: l’arròs de Pals. És un producte poc conegut per gran part de catalans, segurament perquè no s’ha promocionat suficient o per la petita producció que es fa.  Això sí, de qualitat excel·lent.

El conreu d’aquest arròs, segons els historiadors, data del segle XV, el qual fou introduït pels àrabs provinents de València. El clima de l’Empordà i especialment el de Pals afavoreix la producció d’un arròs de gran qualitat. Aquest clima fa que la maduració sigui més llarga en comparació als arrossars en latituds més baixes i a la vegada això provoca que el gra d’arròs, un cop cuit, sigui molt resistent.

Actualment a les comarques de de l’Alt i Baix Empordà hi ha 22 productors d’arròs i la superfície cultivada és de 714 hectàrees en total. Entre els municipis productors d’arròs trobem Castelló d’Empúries, Pals, Torroella de Montgrí, Bellcaire d’Empordà, Gualta, Fonanilles i Palau-Sator.  Aquests productors d’arròs estan compromesos amb l’entorn, la conservació de la biodiversitat de la zona i intenten minimitzar l’impacte ambiental, tot utilitzant tècniques ecològiques.

A Pals concretament hi trobem dues empreses que es dediquen a cultivar, envasar i elaborar arròs. Concretament són Arròs Estany de Pals (Avi Trias) i Arròs Molí de Pals S.L.

La campanya gastronòmica de l’arròs té lloc durant el més de març i s’orgaNitzen mercats de productes artesanals i els restaurants d’aquesta població empordanesa ofereixen menús amb arròs a la cassola, com a plat destacat. Cal dir que es pot trobar arròs de Pals a les poblacions del voltant i durant tot l’any.

Què espereu doncs per tastar l’arròs de Pals? L’arròs, nutritiu, senzill i capaç d’acomodar-se a tot, s’adapta tant a les sopes com a les cremes, tant als vins negres com als rosats o als blancs, tant als vins tranquils com als inquiets. I jo us faig una proposta, acompanyeu-lo amb un bon cava.

Salut i bon profit!

PELS AMANTS DEL BON PA

Avui en dia trobar pa realment ecològic sense res de llevat (o amb molt poc)  i només amb la mare del pa costa molt de trobar.  Tot això es pot trobar al forn Pa d’abans a l’Avinguda Catalunya 59 de La Fuliola, a l’Urgell (Lleida).  Tal i com el nom d’aquest forn de pa indica, el pa és elaborat amb una metodologia tradicional i a la vegada tots els seus productes són ecològics. El forn obre de dimecres a diumenges, inclosos els festius i el seus telefons per encàrrecs són el 973570429 i el 647334496.

En entrar al forn de pa a l’esquerra es pot observar els troncs d’alzina ben posats que utilitzen per cremar i donar energia al seu forn de llenya. Al fons es pot veure l’obrador amb el forn de llenya, el qual té més de 50 anys d’antiguitat i que va ser traslladat des de Madrid amb dos camions. El forn de llenya està fet de pedra i les seves dimensions són molt grans. Utilitzar aquest forn té la seva dificultat, ja que costa molt de regular la temperatura, però a Pa d’abans ho aconsegueixen. 

Pa d’abans és un forn de pa regentat per una parella de Barcelona que per situacions de la vida va anar a parar a Lleida. Els coneixements en l’elaboració de pa els van adquirir al Regne Unit en la seva joventut. La parella, molt amable i professional, no tindran cap problema en explicar-vos com elaboren el pa tots els seus productes i en ensenyar-vos l’obrador, cosa que val molt la pena. Els seus pans no tenen res a veure als pans de supermercat ni als de molts forns de pa, ja que a part de ser ecològics són pans molt densos i per persones que no estant acostumades a aquest tipus de pans poden arribar a ser un pel difícils de menjar. Són d’aquells pans que amb una llesca ja estàs tip i que no necessites ni pernil per acompanyar-lo. 

Entre els seus productes hi trobareu els pans integrals sols, de nous i panses i de llavors, els pans tritordeum (blat i ordi), el pa de kamut, el d’espelta, el de xeixa, el de sègol, la coca de recapte (típica de Lleida), el pa de pessic (que per cert està boníssim) i alguna que altra pizza. 

Us recomano que si algun dia passeu per la zona o hi viviu, malgrat que per alguns el menjar ecològic pugui ser car, aneu a Pa d’abans i tasteu els seus pans. Jo ho tinc clar, sempre que pugui apostaré pel menjar ecològic.

Salut i bon pa!

COCA COLA AND ITS "FAKE" STEVIA

Today I am not going to write about wine, beer or any other drink. The purpose of this entrance is to make you think and judge by yourself. To my mind, customers should know the truth and have information about it. I am going to talk about a plant called Stevia and how some big multinationals, such as The Coca Cola Company, are taking advantage of this sweetener using that name.

First of all I am going to introduce you a little bit what this plant is. Stevia rebaudiana is a plant species in the genus Stevia commonly known as sweetlead or sugarleaf, which is grown for its sweet leaves, the source of sweetener products known as stevia. Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute. Its taste has got a slower onset and longer duration than sugar and some of its extracts may have a bitter aftertaste. Moreover, stevia is much sweetener that sugar and it is becoming more popular due to the rise in demand of low-carbohydrate and low-sugar sweetener. What is more, stevia has got a negligible effect on blood glucose it is attractive to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets or with sugar problems (it acts as a sugar regulator).

Stevia by itself does criticise the unethical business of the aspartame, which is a chemical and artificial carcinogenic sweetener and it also would reduce the consumption of some medicines if people took stevia instead of other sweeteners.

For marketing reasons and to improve the brand image The Coca Cola Company has launched a product called Coca-Cola life which according to this company is produced with Stevia. This product was launched in the UK last September. So, in theory this product should be healthier than the previous Coca Cola’s products. However, what Coca Cola does not say is that this product contents an ingredient called Truvia (20% Stevia and 80% Erythritol). Erythritol is a polyol that increases blood glucose of diabetics. In addition, the absence of more information by the company itself, must be assumed to be added flavors addictive as we have already used in their products. It is also important to say that from this 20% of  Stevia, 0% is Stevioside, the only component of the Stevia sweetener with medicinal properties.

Here you have an example how Coca Cola hides all this information said above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNs9gIyUiEw Another example how Coca Cola lies is when on its webpage says that is not an unhealthy drink http://preguntasyrespuestas.cocacola.es/respuesta/bebidas-para-deportistas (it is in Spanish, but you could translate the answer on Google Translator).

You are what you eat. So, as a consumer you should get information. Now it is your choice if you would like to continue drinking Coca Cola. At least, you have got the information. But, do not be scammed.

To sum up, be a responsible consumer!

Cheers!