UNA POESIA PER ACABAR EL BLUE MONDAY

Diuen que avui és el Blue Monday, el dia més trist de l'any... I com que estic a Anglaterra i es fa un ús bastant estès i abusiu a diari de la cervesa als pubs he escrit la següent poesia:

Quan no tenen a ningú, ella no falla

Els pubs i la cervesa amarga

l’hora del te han substituït,

i ja no hi ha cinc de la tarda,

potser per tal d’omplir un buit.

La cervesa  també escalfa,

però no els dóna cap fruit,

sinó que és una companya

per abans d’anar al seu llit. 

Penes ofegades amb la cervesa,

havent arribat a la nit,

esperant que arribi el demà

i deixar l'avui en l’oblit.

Bona nit!

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!