Tag: ale

Ginger as Medicine

On Wednesday we wrote about how we are all using more ginger than in times past and how we love our gingery Asian Chicken broth. While most of our broth is used in cooking, we also use it as medicine.

Ginger as Medicine

The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center maintains a directory of herbs and botanicals with information about their uses. Their report on ginger points out that, “Ginger root contains compounds that may help relieve or prevent nausea and vomiting. These substances can increase the flow of saliva and digestive juices and may also help calm the stomach and intestine.”

Liquid Ginger!

We sip a cup of warm homemade, ginger-scented chicken stock rather than ginger ale for an upset tummy. We share filtered-until-it-is-clear supplies of it with friends who are preparing for a colonoscopy, and we’ve supplied friends with colds, flu, and chemotherapy patients with sips of what one friend called, “your magic elixir.”

Penny loves ginger tea. She often makes her own with ginger from our supply, but you can buy some excellent organic ginger tea.

Some folks swear by ginger mints, ginger gum, or organic candied ginger to combat motion sickness.

In “Ginger Root In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine,” author Eyton Shalom writes, “There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble ginger root.”

Please Read this Important Part!

Even with all these positive recommendations, increasing ginger consumption may not be for everyone. In addition to following the scientific research on each substance, Sloan Kettering also puts side effects and warnings even on everyday items like ginger. If you are planning on adding a lot of any ingredient or a supplement containing that ingredient to your diet, you would be wise to check for interactions with medications and medical conditions.

You should also let your personal physician know if you are using something like ginger as medicine.

Related Post: Ginger Goes Mainstream

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino

(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

November 9, 2018
West West Blue Cheese & Brooklyn Brewery’s K is for Kriek

On a recent visit to Formaggio Kitchen South End, I asked the cheesemonger to suggest a beer or ale that would go with the piece of West West Blue Cheese from Parish Hill Creamery in Vermont we were buying.

I had just sampled the cheese as he described the flavor profiles of a range of craft beers he recommended pairing with this richly flavored blue. Then he said he had recently tasted Brooklyn Brewery's K is for Kriek with another big blue and was very happy with the match.

Since the Formaggio staff has done a great job of matching beverages with cheese for us in the past and intrigued by the description, I added a bottle to my basket. Later that evening, Ed (the beer drinker in the house) applauded the choice.

West West Blue From Parish Hill Creamery

This cheese comes from a very interesting Vermont Creamery. We love their tagline, “Seasonal, hand made, raw milk cheeses inspired by traditional DOP Italian cheeses.”

About the West West Blue, they say:

"Traditional aged, two-curd Gorgonzola, West West Blue is made with whole, raw milk from Elm Lea Farm and aged 90 – 180 days. The edible rind surrounds an interior with openings filled with streaks of blue mold, a creamy texture and a spicy, earthy flavor."

We both loved the rich, deep, almost caramel flavor notes and the spicy, sharp, taste bud, wake-up snap of the blue veining. It was also very good with both the Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco I was drinking and the Sardinian Parchment crackers we served with it that evening.

As for the double "west" in the name, the creamery is located in the town of Westminster West, Vermont.

Brooklyn Brewery K is for Kriek

There is a lot going on in this bottle of ale!

Brooklyn Brewery says:

"To this beer’s subtle marriage of malts, dark candi sugar, local wildflower honey and zing of orange peel, we added tart dried whole Montmorency cherries from Michigan. Around this, we wrapped a barrel of charred American bourbon oak. The sugar of the cherries began to ferment away. The barrels hissed. And we waited.

Six months later, the beer emerged with a glowing red color, vibrant acidity, complex fruit aromatics, and a foundation of oak flavors, its strength moving past 10%. Its transformation almost complete, the beer joined priming sugar, Champagne yeast and wild Brettanomyces yeasts in the bottle and underwent a third fermentation. And we waited yet again."

Now, after a year of waiting, beer lovers have the opportunity to share a bottle with friends. And, we do suggest sharing, since this big 25.4 ounce bottle contains a 10.1% alcohol by volume brew.

So the next time you buy a great cheese from a great cheese shop like Formaggio, remember that the wines and beers on their shelves were picked to match the food they sell. They are in the business of paying attention to nuances of flavor and will be happy to help you match a beverage with a particular cheese or other foods you've purchased.

Here are other posts from our Cheese Collection!

What's on your Cheese shopping list? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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Bourbon Beer? at Sweet Cheeks

If first impressions are as lasting as claimed, then we will definitely be regulars at Sweet Cheeks BBQ. While we’ve given you our Sweet Cheeks BBQ – First Look, I saved the “beverage” part of the meal for today.

I’m always ready to try a new beer, especially if the word bourbon is used to describe it. So, when bartender Rich told me about an ale that’s aged in bourbon barrels, I had to have one. I’ve been a bourbon-lover for years. But, that's certainly not a requirement for enjoying this brew.

My first sip of brilliant, amber-colored Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale from that mason jar was outstanding! Full-flavored, but not heavy, with hints of oak and vanilla. It complemented the entire meal, especially our butterscotch pudding dessert.

This beer is so good, it could be dessert!

Do you have a beer lover on your holiday gift list. How about something from Amazon's collection of beer glasses

Details:

Sweet Cheeks

www.sweetcheeksq.com

1381 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02215 (map)
phone: 617-266-1300
email: info@sweetcheeksq.com

Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

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December 13, 2011