From Each According To Their Means ...

Marxism may truly be out of fashion but the loose translation of Marx's 

  "Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen!" 

by old school Socialists as "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs" has always seemed a reasonable enough approach to social and economic responsibility in a 'modern, civilised' society. 

The "Tesco Tax" being introduced in Northern Ireland this weekend is a bold statement by its community  leaders that large businesses including retailers such as Tesco should start paying a little more to the communities they 'serve'. In light of the Portas Review of Britain's high streets and the effect that large out of town retail developments have had on town centres it's only right that the balance is redressed to help small businesses by redistributing the burden of business rates from those least able to pay to those most able to pay. And oh what joy that it's to be introduced on April 1st!

Whilst this is a welcome move for some small businesses more needs to be done to redress the balance between other sectors of the high street and the disparity in business rates- the iniquitous way that pubs are treated compared to other retail businesses. 

 

The Valuation Office uses a combination of Fair Maintainable Trade, open market rents and the type of services the pub offers (such as food or sports screenings) to calculate the rateable value. The same government agency assesses shops and other businesses solely on the physical area that the business occupies (less allowances for service areas such as toilets and stairwells) with no assessment of what level of trade a "competent operator" running whichever kind of business would generate. 

Another inconsistency is that holiday lettings accommodation have allowable deductions for repairs and maintenance, water rates, depreciation on fixtures and fittings and even the TV Licence! No such allowances are made for pubs (or for that matter shops). And I'll never believe a 'poor farmer' again when their land and most of their business related buildings are exempt from business rates.

Many small pubs (and hence small businesses) occupy roughly the same footprint as their retail neighbours and yet have rateable values significantly more than their counterparts. For instance in my last pub, where we occupied half a building (two of our four floors being the private accommodation on which we also paid Council Tax) the business rates, by dint of the multiplier, for our 'retail' business were 10 times more than that of the non-licensed retailer who occupied the other half of the premises.

Now add in the duties that are attached to the products that pubs sell (and enough of this has been written here and elsewhere) and any reasonable person would start to ask 'why are pubs so disproportionately taxed?' No doubt the answers will be that pubs use more resources such as the police and do more social harm as purveyors of the demon drink. But hang on aren't we already paying for that with duty? Won't some of us be paying for that with the Late Night Levy? 

Isn't it time that there was a complete overhaul of the business rates system? No, it's time to scrap them altogether and tax all businesses in the same way ... from each according to its means, i.e. from their profits. 

Think of the money that could be saved by reducing the Valuation Office's activities with respect to business rates, as an executive agency of HMRC it's officers could be assigned to other duties such as investigating tax avoidance and evasion ... but that's probably too simple a solution for 'Sir Humphrey' and his board even though HMRC's Vision Statement includes this statement:

"We will close the tax gap, our customers will feel that the tax system is simple for them and even-handed"

 (For advice on Business Rates read the article on the How To Run A Pub website)

Breaking news ... London man set to lose job due to minimum pricing ...

"Re-shuffle, what re-shuffle?"

If there's one job loss that I shan't mourn brought on by this administration's disconnected, disjointed and misinformed Alcohol Strategy it will be that of the Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.

As reported in the redoubtable Independent Lansley is said "to be furious that David Cameron has overruled his concerns over the legality, morality and effectiveness of the proposal designed to tackle Britain's binge-drinking culture. It left Mr Lansley looking isolated and sparked suggestions he will lose his job in the next reshuffle."


Let's just analyse some keywords in that report:

Legality ... I am sure that 'Europe' will have something to say about minimum pricing at some point ... good job the Treasury has all that above inflation alcohol duty escalator money to burn when they appoint a veritable army of high-paid lawyers to defend its decision when it is challenged in the courts.

Morality ... allowing (along with the previous administration) certain elements of the off-trade to continually flout the principle of "responsible retailing" and the four licensing objectives in the Licensing Act, then take it out on the majority of consumers who "drink responsibly" especially those on low incomes ... but let's face it the 'undeserving poor' don't deserve a pint at the end of a hard days graft.

Effectiveness ... unless the minimum unit price is set well above the currently mooted level of 40p it just won't work. Put it to something like £1.20 a unit and the disparity between off-trade pricing and on-trade pricing would all but disappear. There would be no incentive to drink at home when the price one pays in the supermarket is the same as in the pub ... the latter of which, of course, on the whole provides a safe controlled environment for social drinking. (Note to Georgie Porgie ... here's a bit of joined up thinking ... think of the increased corporation tax and VAT this would generate ... gotta pay for all those lawyers!)

Designed ... this implies some sort of intelligence and forethought, something that is clearly not evident in the Alcohol Strategy, unless it has been a carefully crafted 'knee-jerk reaction' to certain reports about the rise in liver disease or hospital admissions .

Isolated ... this will be the feeling a lot of publicans get when the staff and customers have all departed for the night and the long dark night of the soul is upon them. A little reported consequence of this administration's mismanagement of the alcohol has been to further diminish the sustainability of thousands of tied community pubs by steadfastly defying the 'will of parliament' over regulation of the pubcos. As more and more pubs go to the wall, less and less 'safe places' are available for 'responsible drinking' ... let alone the costs in terms of ruined lives and increased benefit costs. Isolated? That'll be the solitary ounce of common sense the Cabinet share between them.

So don't spare a thought for Lansley, it would seem the majority in the NHS won't, he'll be fine with a couple of well paid directorships in the health provision industry ... save your compassion for the ordinary folk of this country who are just trying to make a living and have a pint and a natter come knocking off time.

P.S. Note to picture editor of the Independent - how about using a bottle of wine or spirits next time you run a piece on alcohol and save the images of beer for beer related stories - you lazy git!

Lies Damned Lies and Statistics, Part 3 or

Minimum Unit Price … MUP … a MUPpet initiative from a Muppet Administration.

 

(SEPARATED AT BIRTH?) 

Well the media has had a field day with David Cameron's announcement of minimum pricing for alcohol, whipped into a frenzy by the likes of Theresa May's pathetic attempt to divert attention from the Budget and divert the news cycle away from the Granny Grab tax changes.

A Department of Health Press release for the day estimated that reducing the number of units of alcohol sold by 1 billion would save a 1,000 lives a year and the Health Secretary announced that 

“Last year there were 1.2 million admissions to hospital associated with alcohol.”

HMG's pincer movement in the battle against alcohol abuse of the MUP (at a stupidly low level of 40p … see my earlier thoughts) and the Public Health Responsibility Deal an arrangement with the big drinks manufacturers to cut the strength of various lines of beer, wine and cider is typical of the the disjointed thinking of this administration. 

The press release came with a plethora of headline grabbing statistics pointing to or further alerting us to the demon drink … but is this the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Andrew Lansley's quote is a classic piece of political spin 1.2 million hospital admissions doesn’t mean that the same number of people are in A&E etc because of alcohol, as anyone who has been admitted to hospital whilst managing a health problem several times means the absolute number of patients will always be less than the number of recorded admissions.

You also have to take into account the way that admissions are recorded and the way that NHS statisticians manipulate these figures anecdotal evidence collected by FactCheck suggests that "analysts decided that a certain fraction of people who, say, fall over and twist their ankle, do so because they are drunk."

They go on to say "what the analysts do next is to assign a value based on the estimated likelihood of a certain percentage of injuries or illnesses being caused or exacerbated by alcohol to every patient. So if you fall over and twist your ankle for whatever reason you become a fraction – 0.22 per cent of a single drunk patient. And that number is then multiplied by all the people admitted to hospital for falls. It follows that, if the total number of patients admitted to hospital goes up, then the portion of those admissions theoretically attributed to alcohol automatically goes up too."

Since when does this equate to 1.2 million admissions related to alcohol? They don't as the NHS has stated that only 25% of "alcohol related admissions" were "wholly attributable to alcohol consumption". In the 2010 figures this meant 265,000 not 1.2 million! Further NHS reports also show that only of these admissions only 25% of those were attributed to a "primary diagnosis" as an alcohol specific condition. (For those of you without a calculator to hand this is just over 68,000).

Having looked at these figures I have decided that the rest of HMG's claims about fewer deaths probably won't stand up either, no so no need to spend hour upon hour trawling the net.  

What I did look at is the Introduction to the Government's Alcohol Strategy as it claims this startling piece of information:

but hides the Office of National Statistics reported change in alcohol consumption (or "clearances" as it calls them) in the UK as percentage changes recently: 2005/06 -2%, 2006/07 -1.3%, 2007/08 +1.2% and finally 2008/09 -7.2%.

So starting from a base point in 2005 alcohol consumption over the period to 2009 actually fell by a cumulative figure of 9.16% … okay so we pissed it up since the fifties but consumption in this country is falling.

Don't be fooled by the New Puritans or their political mouth-pieces and make sure you tell your customers the truth when they discuss it with you … as they surely will.

In the interim did you know that you can apply for a free £85 worth of resources, including a natty "Unit Measure Cup" to illustrate to your staff and customers what different drinks equate to in layperson's terms?


Go to DrinkAware to take up this offer get more information that will help you be a more responsible retailer than you probably are already.

Finally a huge thank you to Patrick Worral (Fact Check) for putting this train of thought in motion.


Now if Waldorf and Statler  (Cameron and Clegg) can just provide me with another opportunity to reference them as Muppets ... still that shouldn't be too long, should it eh?

The Aye's Have It ...

There you go Georgie Boy ... COMRES voting intention poll (page 29) says 54% of us reckon you should scrap the Beer Duty Escalator to help save pubs ... gonna ignore this? Because I reckon if the Health profession can get 100 GPs to stand against Conservative and LibDem candidates in the next General Election then the Brewing and Pub Industry could field another 100

Even your own statistics must prove the diminishing return of increases to Beer Duty so what's stopping you?

As for minimum pricing the jury's out ... 44% say yes to introducing it, 41% say no ... I reckon unless it's sufficiently high enough to level the playing field between the huge irresponsible retailing practices of the major supermarkets then don't bother ... depends, of course, how much your parties are in thrall to them.

As for you lot out there in the trade (or drinking in our pubs)  ... still time for you and your customers and your friends to sign the epetition by clicking here 

Shock! Horror! PM cops out ...

Minimum Pricing ... the silver bullet?

Just doing a trawl of the big three supermarkets this morning and average price for can of Stella (4.8% ABV) is 91 pence, which, according to DrinkAware's online calculator is 2.1 units, therefore unit price 43p. (I'm sure that's the math ...)

Similarly from the respective retailer's budget brands, Vodka, 70 cl (28 x 25 ml shots – normal pub measure) average price 33p a shot, again DrinkAware says that a 25 ml shot is 0.9 units, so it’s 37p per unit.

The story is the same for white wine (Chenin Blanc, ABV 12%, 125 ml glass) comes out at 61p a glass which at 1.5 units is a unit price of 41p.

Mean average for all the drinks? 40p a unit.

So minimum pricing at 40p won’t really have that much effect in terms of this type of drink, where it will have an effect is in some of the very cheap cider, for instance Frosty Jack (7.5% ABV) 2 litres at Tesco £3.79, DrinkAware says a 2 litre bottle is 15 units, therefore unit price is 25p.

I suspect that the majority of “binge” drinkers, who pre-load before hitting town (and on-trade venues) will be drinking the former drinks at 40p a unit already. 

Now if the minimum price was pegged against the national average on-trade price it might make a difference, for instance the average price of a pint in UK (according to pintprice.com) is £2.90, which would make 4% Stella in the pub £1.26 per unit.

I would suspect that simple Keynesian economic theory of supply and demand would kick in here if unit price was to triple for off-trade (to bring it into line with on-trade) and demand might fall.

I'll not go into the ins and outs of health issues relating to alcohol consumption, not being a health professional, apart from saying that "moderation" is probably a good mantra (as with most things in life).

However, much has been written about the correlation between alcohol pricing and anti-social behaviour and as an industry veteran of over 30 years I have first hand experience of this issue. In reply to an enquiry I made about research into this issue, Kent Matthews, The Sir Julian Hodge Professor of Banking & Finance Cardiff Business School (who has researched this) has this to say:

"The relationship between alcohol and violence is well documented in the medical literature but the causation between alcohol consumption and violence is difficult to prove.

Some violent people drink a lot, others drink in anticipation of a fight (football violence) and then others will have characteristics that are correlated with both drinking and violence. Therefore there may be 2-way causation between drinking and violence.

The thing about using the price of alcohol (beer and lager as proxies) is that the causation must be one-way. Violent injury cannot cause the price of beer (and lager) but the price of beer (and lager) affects consumption which could cause violent injury.

So using the price of beer as a determinant of violent injury (controlling for other factors) provides a stronger argument for causation." 

Or put simply "the more you pay for beer the less you drink and the less you scrap". 

You, along with the rest of us, have to make your own mind up about this, I can only speak from 30+ years experience in the Licensed Trade and say that headline grabbing by politicians and health groups will not solve the problem … until we have better alcohol education we’ll not make any inroads into this societal problem.

As I reported on this blog last year The Alcohol Educations Research Council's (AERC) main aims are to:  

“Generate and disseminate research based evidence to inform and influence policy and practice” and “to develop the capacity of people and organisations to address alcohol issues.”

Both worthy aims and the AERC has, during the last five years, concentrated on family interventions, community action programmes and screening plus brief interventions for alcohol misuse. They are a repository of a vast library of reports and research into the effects of alcohol that both government and industry readily draw upon. 

The Coalition’s response to this sterling work? Turn it into a charitable trust and we know how well charities do during hard times – especially if they're not the cuddly / furry types. Good call Mssrs Clegg and Cameron; at least they’ll be able to use dogma and prejudice to determine their alcohol harm reduction policy without the inconvenience of a publicly funded body calling them to account. After all the AERC will just be another bleeding heart charity soon!

It really is time for some "joined up thinking" on the issue of alcohol (ab)use but as with much this administration is undertaking "joined up" clearly isn't in their vocabulary and minimum pricing (especially at the level mooted) on its own simply isn't going to work. One thing I do know, however, is that demonising drink(ers) and pubs won't help and allowing the off-trade to continue to flout the Licensing Act's provisions about responsible retailing won't help either. 

I view some of the off-trade much as I view unscrupulous arms dealers in this respect, as long as there's an End User Certificate in place (such as a Premises Licence) what actually happens to the products they sell, how they are used and by whom are of absolutely no consequence to them.

To quote Yuri Orlov (a character in the Film "Lord of War"): 

"There are two types of tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want, the other is getting it"

For the truth about how much we, as a nation drink Channel Four has done a Fact Check

Vote in the poll on Minimum Pricing - Poll closed 75% said it won't work!

Scrap The Beer Duty Escalator

Much is (and has been) written about this by more erudite obervers than me (and commented on by others), so in the spirit of dumbing down and the adage of "a picture paints a thousand words":

(Both courtesy of the BBPA)

BBPA says that 20,000 are employed in the UK brewing industry = 420,000 jobs altogether ...

NUFF SAID EH?

Sign The epetition By Clicking Here  

You can download the graphics (above) on the Download page on this blog

Mad Dogs and Englishmen ... well Scots anyway ...

It doesn’t usually take me this long to write a piece and my friends will tell you that I'm seldom lost for words but I witnessed something extraordinary last Tuesday and the truth is I wasn't sure if it was to my liking. Now I've had a couple of days to cogitate, ruminate and procrastinate ...

I've never been to the opening of an Apple Store, but I imagine the zeal and enthusiasm shown by Max and Johnny from Brew Dog at the official launch of the "dissident" brewer's newest bar in Nottingham and the response (whoops, cheers and lots of clapping) from the 120 or so attending the event would make the late Steve Jobs smile.

Brew Dog Nottingham, with it's brash electric blue exterior signage and stripped back brick interior walls is on the first floor of a converted factory building on the edge of Nottingham's Lace Market area. Sharing a street with the renowned Broadway Arts Centre, Edin's Restaurant, Lee Rosy's Tea Shop and the world's smallest commercial cinema the Screen Room (seats 21!) (Amendment 28/5/12 - closed down last November! Oooops!)

On offer is the full panoply of Brew Dog's output of "revolutionary" craft beers (10 in total). The original Punk IPA, I say original it was reduced in strength after a public vote, summer yellow with citrus & passion fruit top notes and a kick on the swallow. You can really taste the New Zealand Nelson Sauvon hops, which, according to Max and the Brew Dog booklet (download by clicking here) are chucked in by the bucketful.

Right the way through to Paradox Jura at a hefty 10% and best drunk in the branded ⅓ rd pint glasses with Dark Crystal Caramalt and Chocolate Malt that apart from its lovely dark colour put me in mind of a very sweet barley wine only with the twist of cranberries and the woodiness of the oak chips it is aged in.

With an emphasis on the beer, and with these guys it really is all about the beer, the whole décor of the place, the minimal food offering (a choice of six meat or cheese boards) and the high stools and tables Brew Dog Nottingham only just escapes the label of a "vertical drinking establishment". Mind you have any more than 25ml of End of History (bottled and wrapped in road kill squirrel skin) and you wouldn't be vertical for long - it comes in at 55%!!!

You have to hand it to Brew Dog they know how to run a PR machine in this digital age, this quote from their press pack, however, rankled a little as an adopted citizen of Nottingham: "Brew Dog calls for an end to shallow marketing and mass-produced beers in a city ‘flooded with the mediocre". Obviously they've not tried any of the great beers from Castle Rock, Mallard, Magpie or Alcazar.

In response to the "mediocrity" and "brainless marketing" endemic in Nottingham Brew Dog produced a very limited edition Hops Kill Robin Hood, Imperial  Red Ale. This 7.8% beer was only available for the first week of the Nottingham branch's first week, so sorry folks if you haven't tried it by now then you've missed it.

   
Apart from this minor gripe I can't find much wrong with Brew Dog's latest offering and with 10 sites planned for 2012 it would seem that the "revolution" is set to spread around the country. According to Max and Cam (Brew Dog's PR) the good folk of Tokyo might also be enjoying a taste of  Aberdeen. Brew Dog's excellent little booklet - Beer School - should come in handy for them.

It was as my party was leaving, having enjoyed their hospitality that a thought came to mind that despite the generational difference (Brew Dog really are the brewers of the Facebook generation) that they will probably do a great deal to keep British brewing ahead of the game and even though I was weaned on cask conditioned ales their beers are as good as any "real" ale, a fact that some CAMRA purists should note.

Now if we can just swing a 'no' vote in the Scottish independence referendum …

Just don't call it sushi!

It was a balmy 19ºC, last Tuesday, yes that would be Tuesday, February 21^st 2012, a full 10ºC above average and my mind, oh well I'll be honest my stomach, began to wander to thoughts of light, summery type foods not the unending menu of comforting winter warmers that have made up my diet for the last few months.

One such dish (or whole school of cuisine to be more accurate) came to mind as the zeitgeist put the word ceviche into my frontal lobe. 

It's pronounced "say-bee-chay" and if you were unkind, you'd describe it as South American sushi. I'm not a naturally unkind person so I shan't demean this wonderful style of food even though the principle ingredient(s) are raw fish.

Apparently ceviche dates back to Inca times, when fish was preserved in salt, fruit juice and chile peppers, which has to make it just as ancient as the Japanese variant. Whilst the citric acid in limes, which is a popular marinate in countries such as Peru, will alter fish proteins to turn the flesh opaque and give it the appearance of being cooked, it will remain raw so using the freshest and cleanest of fish is paramount.

Although sea bass is a favourite in Chile with grapefruit juice and cilantro (coriander to you and me) and in Ecuador shrimps and ketchup are favoured any quality white fish or shellfish will suffice. Ceviche is often served with sweet potato and corn on the cob.

Ceviche is becoming very trendy outside of South America so this may be a perfect addition to your spring menu as a starter or as a sharing platter:

Classic Peruvian Ceviche.

Preparation Time:  about 3½  hours (½ hour for the prep and 3 hours for the marinating) 

Ingredients:

• 2 kg white saltwater fish (sole, snapper, halibut for example)
• 125ml each of freshly squeezed lime juice, lemon juice and orange juice
• 1 teaspoon of salt (freshly ground sea or rock salt for preference)
• 1 rocoto chile (*see below)
• 1 medium onion, sliced very thinly into half-moons
• 4 teaspoons of fresh chopped coriander leaves

*A brilliant resource is UK Chile Head's excellent website on all things "8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide" and for supplier details.

Preparation:

Cut the fish into small pieces: You can dice it or leave it in pieces up to 1 inch square, but remember that the larger the pieces the longer it will take to marinate.

Salt the fish, then cover with the citrus juice in a non-reactive (glass or plastic) container with a lid. Add the sliced onions and the chiles.

Chill this in the fridge for at least 3 hours, you should note that the larger the pieces of fish the longer the marinating takes.  To check if it is ready for eating take the largest piece and see if the centre is still raw looking and the outer layer opaque.

To serve, make a bed of the onions and chiles and top with the fish, garnishing with chopped coriander.

Ceviche is so sharp and acidic it cries out for beer and tortilla chips as an accompaniment, even though you won't find tortilla chips in Peru, and as a total offering why not make a meal deal of it with a gold tequila?

This recipe will make approximately 12 servings … the costings I will leave to you.

For the brave amongst you, and to make the most out of the ingredients, you should reserve the marinade which is known in South America as "leche de tigre" or tiger's milk. Served in a shot glass, brightly coloured from the spicy chile peppers, and sometimes mixed with vodka, tiger’s milk is considered a great cure for hangovers - although I won’t personally vouch for that!

Heritage Food - "Noshtalgia ain't what it used to be ... "

How often do you pass by a pub that advertises "traditional pub grub" or how often do you use that slogan in your own marketing? For many this sobriquet will conjure up dishes such as Cottage Pie or Sausage and Mash or Fish and Chips (and even Chicken Tikka Masala) but I am sure you won't be surprised to learn that these islands have an ancient, rich and varied culinary tradition beyond these examples.

With the Diamond Jubilee of HM The Queen and the inevitable celebration of all that is British that will open the London Olympic Games this summer, pubs have a unique opportunity to be part of the zeitgeist.

As well as being an opportunity to use local produce and seasonal ingredients you could add to your pub's USP by adding truly authentic traditional British dishes to your menu … and don’t forget wine. ale, cider and mead play an important part in the story too so plenty of opportunities for food matching. You could even go the full hog, so to speak, and dress up for the occasion too!

In this guide I will provide some recipes, food and drink ideas and point you in the direction of some really useful information on what is "Best of British". It really could be as simple as ABC - "Authentic British Cuisine". You'll even find deals from local food producers and suppliers.

I have in mind three ways to exploit what will undoubtedly be a huge resurgence in interest in our island's rich cultural heritage, but I am sure you will have your own ideas:

Concept One - "British Food Through The Ages"

 

 Whether you were to feature a menu reflecting British cuisine from Anglo-Saxon to Tudor and Regency to Victorian as a series of theme nights or add an ABC section to your standing menu you will find a fabulous heritage of cooking in this country.

 
Concept Two - "Lost British Food Rediscovered"

Another way to present ABC would be to look at obscure, but toothsome dishes from the past 1,000 years and as for the majority of that time many foods we take for granted nowadays were prohibitively expensive for most of the population you'll find plenty of inexpensive and delicious ideas on the web. For instance what about Pease Pudding, Angels on Horseback or Stargazy Pie?




Concept Three - "Elizabethan Food for the New Elizabethan Era"

To tie in with the Golden Jubilee celebrations forget Coronation Chicken (unless you have a brilliant new twist on it) and bring a little ABC to your customers in the form of an Elizabethan banquet. How about turning your traditional Sunday Roasts menu over to a Tudor feast on the Sunday of Jubilee weekend?

As the Anglo Saxon era is probably the earliest recorded time in the history of food in Britain, I guess the most authentic of British cuisine would come from that period.

Not all the foodstuffs will be familiar to you or your customers, and modern tastes might preclude using some of them, but with the minimum of substitutions you can still give your customers a flavour of the past.

Later periods such as the Regency and Victorian era are much closer to us and apart from the lavish decorations and sheer quantity of food consumed in one sitting that is a characteristic of these culinary epochs much more will be accessible to your customers.

Anglo-Saxon Staples

Fruit – figs and grapes, small apples (crab apples), plums, cherries and sloes

Vegetables & Grains - wheat, rye, oats and barley, carrots, 'Welsh carrots'; or parsnips, cabbages, burdock and rape, onions and leeks, wild garlic

Legumes - peas and beans

Herbs and Spices - ginger, cinnamon, fennel, celeriac, cloves mace and pepper

Honey

Wine & Mead 'apple-wine' (probably a form of cider) fruit juices including apple, pear and plum, herbal 'teas' and infusions, beer and ale

Nuts hazelnuts, acorns, almonds, walnuts

Fish - herring, salmon and eel, pike, perch and roach, flounder, whiting, plaice, cod and brown trout, oysters, mussels and cockles

Meat – pork, chicken, duck and goose, ducks, pigeon, plover, grouse, herons, goose, hare and rabbit, venison, wild boar, beef and veal, mutton and lamb, goat and kid

Anglo-Saxon Dishes

Small Bird and Bacon Stew with Walnuts or Hazelnuts; Pan Roasted Venison with Cherries; Lamb and Apricot Stew; 'Fenkel in Soppes' (Braised Fennel with Ginger); Nut and Leek Stew; Lozenges or Curd Cheese Pastries … to name but a few.  

To download a pdf of authentic Anglo-Saxon recipes click here

Useful Websites:

For finding local food and drink suppliers near to your pub why not try Big Barn - simply type in your post code and you'll find a list of local producers in your area, use the code BB1 and receive a 10% discount on selected purchases from their retailers.

The Tudors is a mine of information on all things relating to the Tudor period including such recipes as Almond Jumballs, Taffatty Tart and Poor Knight's Pudding. For your Elizabethan Banquet and a vast list of dishes. Crow Pie has a great collection of recipes, a glossary of British cuisine and food, calendars detailing farmers markets throughout the UK

You'll even find the World Carrot Museum that will introduce you to the wonderful world of all things of Daucus Carota (Latin for carrot). Ivan Day's Historic Food - another great site with lots of information and he even runs cookery courses.recipes4us - has some more palatable recipes for the less adventurous amongst you. Rediscover Devilled Kidneys, Kedgeree, Beef Cobbler, Apple Charlotte and much more at Good British Food

For me the definitive history of  English food and a great source for recipes is …

… although currently out of print you can find second hand copies online. Author Maxime McKendry, Published 21/01/1994,  Publisher  Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN 9780802132963
 

"This Royal throne of Kings, this sceptre'd isle, this earthly majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise, this fortress nature built, for herself, Against infection and the hand of war..."

William Shakespeare, "King Richard II", Act 2 scene 1

 

p.s. if you like this blog piece then visit the How To Run A Pub website and buy me a pint !

Reality TV ...

Father Jack about to let loose ...

It's a guilty pleasure for a non-driver, watching the BBC's flagship motoring show and for the life of me I really don’t know why I do it. But as I sat there glued to the latest pointless comparison of cars I could never afford let alone drive I had a bizarre thought - what about Top Beer?.

It could still go out on Sunday evenings, it could be set in a huge keg and cask store, feature three presenters, one a fusty old cask ale drinker complete with sandals and beard, one a feisty youngster with all the bounciness of a puppy on steroids and finally a rude old git who'd not really contribute to the show except for random outbursts of profanity and bile (I'm thinking the demented Father Jack from Father Ted here, "feck, girls, beer!").

Just as the motoring show has its nemesis in the form of the caravan, so could Top Beer and it could lampoon lout (I understand this is the vernacular for lager), it could feature a Star in a Reasonably Priced Bar, where a celebrity goes for a pint in a regular community pub and tries to last a whole evening without getting into grief with the locals (I'm thinking Alastair Campbell for the first show, after all he's already done the car thing); the Power Laps would be a different craft or real Yard of Ale and watching a Stig try to consume one with thick driving gloves and through a gap in the full face helmet would be a hoot.

And how about those whacky races the petrol-heads compete in? I know … a Wild Mild Trail where the old git tries to beat the other two from one side of Belgium to another - I can just see the old git abusing Trappist monks as the pupster and beardy sip away at the finest Flemish reds. Of course the old git would always win the race but only by a whisker. It would be real "car-crash" TV!

Beer (and other alcohol) is being demonised on a daily basis so in the spirit of balanced journalism I call on the BBC to commission my idea for Top Beer immediately … it would be as relevant to the world of the average British pub-goer as Top Gear is to the average British driver … I mean if you're going to stick to such a tired old format … or I could take it to Five … Fifth Beer … oh no, we'll be accused of binge drinking!

and on that bombshell …

No taxation without representsation ... true in 1776 ... still true now ...

Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

How much attention do you think your average MP pays to the plight of the average British pub and the hundreds of thousands of people that rely on them for employment and their respective social lives? 

Not a lot I would venture ... otherwise this wouldn't be such a frightening statistic:

"In the last five years the headline rate of beer duty has risen by more than 35%"

Nor would this:

"Despite falling beer consumption in the UK, we contribute 40% of the total beer excise revenue raised by 27 EU nations, whilst accounting for only 13% of total EU beer volumes"

Both of these alarming figures come from the SIBA submission to Mad King George ahead of  his latest budget, so will he remember this from the blurb on his own website: "I will never forget that my first duty is to those who elected me ..." or will it be these words he remembers “What this country needs is a Chancellor with his mind on the job not on inheriting the Prime Minister's crown.” ?

George III prophesied this: "Once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, the colonies will submit."

So how did that work out for you Georgie Boy? Oh yeah, George Washington "opened a can of woopass on him at Yorktown!"

 

If only we had a forum for airing our grievances ... and someone to speak on our behalf ... if only we had an elected legislative body ... if only we had a slogan as good as that in 1776 ... might be something like:

 

Craft Beer vs Cask Ale ... who cares as long as it sells by the shed-load!

(Many thanks to Cooking Lager for pointing out on Pub Curmudgeon's blog that the above headline might give the impression that I condone irresponsible retailing ... I would just like to point out that this is not the intention of the header, the piece below or my stance on responsible retailing ... 22:20hrs 9/2/12)

For a long time there has been (at times) a quite visceral argument waged by the proponents of Craft Beer and the old guard at CAMRA over the relative merits of craft beer and cask ale.

It seems to me that the figures speak for themselves, this article in the Huffington Post is proof enough and if you don't believe all you read in the press then here is the information direct from the horse's  brewer's mouth.

(courtesy and with the permission of the Brewers'Association  - thank you kindly peeps)

 If cask ale has been the saviour of the British brewing industry and by dint of association the British pub trade (or at least help keeping it afloat) then craft beer is the next "big thing" that will help struggling pubs win new customers and keep existing customers using their businesses.

If the growth in the US market (right) can be achieved then we as a trade can keep ahead of the trend if we stop the squabbling and start promoting these varied and exciting beers.

The "talking points" that apply to the US market should be just as valid here:

• Craft seasonal & variety packages are in the top 5 in total U.S. scan data. Your shopper wants a better beer experience!
• Cross merchandising opportunities—there are almost too many to count! Cheese, meat, fish, deli, chocolate, & even bakery departments present great opportunities.
• A point of differentiation—a craft tasting offers you the opportunity to communicate directly with your shopper AND your shopper wants to speak to you!

So stop the squabbling and get behind British pubs and let's all support British craft brewers and traditional British cask brewers and celebrate the wealth and diversity of brewing history this country has to offer ... whether it's in a cask, a keg or a bottle!

Roony, Ted, Roger ... come on lend us a hand ...

Bank of England

I was interested to read of an initiative in the motor manufacturing industry by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to assist its component suppliers secure vital bank lending to gear up for its expected £400 million expansion of its Solihull and Wolverhampton plants.

JLR are giving 22 bankers detailed briefings of its financial plans regarding its growth plans, which, will see downstream purchasing contracts for its suppliers worth £2 billion. By taking the unusual step of disclosing this usually confidential information not only is JLR reassuring lenders that its suppliers will be able to service any debt associated with gearing up but also reassuring the wider market place of what steps it is taking to secure JLR's future.

From what I read, in the trade press and varius forums, publicans, especially those who are tenants or lessees of the pubcos and brewers find it very difficult to get lenders to support their businesses. Perhaps pubcos and brewers with tenanted estates could take a leaf out of JLR's book.

Securing short to medium term finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (and none more so than pubs) has always been problematic as lenders  view these businesses in vacuo and not part of a larger concern. It's time for industry "leaders" to start leading and add value to their customers' businesses and thankfully for these cash-strapped behemoths it shouldn’t cost them too much.

The knock on effect for those in the free trade who really are on their own would be increased confidence in the pub industry and a clearer understanding of our complex and varied industry by bankers.

The boost for our much benighted, but vitally important, sector of the wider economy has the potential to deliver an exponential return for all stakeholders and allow the pub trade to be one of the engines of economic recovery … so come on Rooney, Ted, Roger how about co-operating to present a united front to support your thousands of tenant customers?

From Russia With Love ...

Once again the redoubtable Mark Hix (restrauteur and contributor to the Indpendent newspaper) has come up trumps with a fantastic set of recipes for duck.

The one that really catches my eye for the average pub menu are the Duck Bitok, a version of traditional Russian meat balls, served with sour cream. 

I have, for a long time been a fan of Russian cuisine, blini, bortsch, pashka, koulebiaka, stroganoff and, of course, good vodka to wash it all down.

With sub-zero winds rushing in from the steppes and a cold snap across most of Europe I can't think of a better way to cram in some comfort food and liquid central heating ... get yourself over to this site for authentic Russian recipes.

The great thing about most of the Russian food I've ever cooked is that a lot of it is peasant food and is accordingly inexpensive to source and thus of interest due to its potential for good GP%.

Water, water, everywhere ...

So yet another utility company falls short on its responsibilities to get its billing right ...as a Stoke on Trent Licensee discovers his water bill is wrong

As business customers we are all subject to the dreaded standing charges on our utility bills but seldom do the utility companies tell us how we might reduce these liabilities.

Here is a useful leaflet from OfWat, the water industry's regulator that shows how you might reduce your standing charges for the rainwater that discharges from your pub into the public sewers.

Worth a look especially if you have a significant external and roof area.

For more information and advice on how to save money on your utilities look at How To Run A Pub website in The Buildings section.