Ginger for a ‘Ale and Hearty Summer! :)

Cold glass of Ginger beer!

Summer’s slowly making itself felt and accompanying the summer heat, is summer nostalgia. It is the time of the year we start wishing (more than usual!) we were back to being kids and had three longggg months to fill with things to our hearts’ content! It’s also the time when we start reminiscing about childhood treats we have had. And nothing like a tall, cool glass filled with ice and ginger beer to get you started.

Ginger beer goes back a long way into childhood for all the people who have ever grown up on Enid Blyton.  All the perfect picnics that was ever packed by either Aunt Fanny or perhaps by Mrs.Hilton, Pip’s mom were incomplete till they found the bottle/s of ginger beer. Nothing was ever as perfect as a glass of ginger beer to quench either a disappointing hot day without clues or to celebrate the end of a mystery. There was something about a ginger beer that made it seem so ‘Grown Up’.. most likely the word ‘beer’

So a sip of Ginger Ale/Beer was a childhood dream. It was as English as ham and bacon sandwiches ( remember that we are talking about early 90′s in India ) and seemingly impossible to get your hand on unless you traveled all the way to the seaside village of Kirrin.

Ginger is a tricky little spice. It’s an unassuming little fella who packs a power punch when it comes to the ways and benefits of it’s uses. Apart from being a prominent ingredient in Indian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese cooking, it’s also been a major power player in traditional medicines from all these cultures. Why? We did some research and found out that it can be used to cure stomach aches/upsets, to reduce pain of osteoarthritis, and may even be used in heart disease or cancer. Check out this site to see the amazing things this spice can do for your health!
Other Ginger trivia – Did you know that original word root of this spice roots actually owes itself to Tamil ‘Inji Ver’? Ginger is native to Asia where it has been used as a cooking spice for at least 4,400 years. Now that’s what we here at Zoink call ‘Old Spice’!

And another thing we love about ginger is how versatile it is. It can be powered, pickled, boiled,sliced,diced, candied and best of all, made into Ginger Beer! There are so many versions out there but this one is our absolute favorite coz it’s the quickest one to make! Makes about 4 serving!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled, thinly sliced ginger
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups club soda
• 1 teaspoon lime juice

In a covered saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the ginger pieces and sugar and cover. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat and allow it to sit for 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture and set aside the liquid. Once it has reached room temperature, cool it in the fridge. Although you don’t need the ginger pieces any more, you can keep them to make crystallized ginger.

Mix the ginger sugar water with two cups of cold club soda. Add the lime juice. Stir and serve.  So here’s your recipe for making your own home made ginger beer

Well, all that remains is for you is to kick off your shoes and sit back with a tall glass filled with ice and ginger beer and continue reminiscing about your childhood summers!

Toast to some old fashioned sense! :-)

Ok, this post is a wee bit off the track, so bear with us. Maybe it is just us, or are the ads these days losing out on connecting with us? The readiest jingles that comes to mind are the ones in the early 90′s.

“‘Whashing powder Nirma, Whashing powder Nirma” (Now you can’t help but complete the rest of the jingle in your head, right? )

or Hamara Bajaj… or ‘Jelebiiiss?’ for Dhara oil

One of the all time favorite surely was; well, is Sundrop’s Healthy Oil for Healthy people. It’s crisp, to the point, and best part is, no fear mongering. No one is going to die if you don’t buy, but boy oh boy would you really want to miss out on that perfectly browned crispy cutlet, or the stuffed tomato deep fried??

There’s so much energy and positivity vibing off the boy that anyone who’s seen it would still feel it.  And the scene where the puri avalanches on him? Stroke of genius!

We think it's every kid's dream to have a bowl of gulab jamuns as big as him.

And all of this in 30 seconds. To show food being integral to a relationship when it’s only in the last 5 seconds that the mother and son are even shown together.

That’s advertising. Brilliant recall of concept, brand, jingle, even the details!*

Why are we doing a biopsy of this lost classic? Because there’s another ad which steals your heart much the same way. 

Something about this ad makes you feel like it’s the Sundrop mom and kid 2 decades later: The table full of goodies, the memory of the mischievousness. But the clincher is the scene with everyone digging in because there’s always enough and never enough when food’s been made with so much love.

Why we love these two ads? Because at the end of the day, Good food is prepared only with with a bit of pain, passion and infinite care about the person who’s going to eat it. That’s the secret ingredient! Guess that’s why mom’s and grandmom’s food always tastes the best!

Toast to Fortune and Ogilvy! Toast to Good Food!

 

*Bear with the marketing jargon! :-/