25/04/05 Ginger

I've always loved Ginger. Not Ginger Rogers the dancer. No, the plant itself.
Ginger Beer is the king of carbonated refreshments in my book, ("Ginger Beer - The King of Carbonated Refreshments" by J. S. Park, available in all good book shops)
When I was a callow teenager I used to make my own ginger beer.
My parents discouraged this practice after several bottles exploded in my bedroom one night like mortars. Thankfully, my sorrow at losing all the ginger beer, was not compounded by any collateral human casualties.
I was actually sitting, strumming a guitar right next to one of the bottles as it exploded, and to this day fail to comprehend how I avoided getting so much as a scratch. This was reminiscent of the scene in "Pulp Fiction" where the 2 hitmen survive a frenzied burst of shooting from a friend of "Brad" (as in, "check the brain on Brad!" and "eating a Big Kahoona Burger").
This caused the Samuel Jackson character to seize on the event as one of great religious significance, and a signal from above to get out of the Hitman business.
I was just pissed off that all my ginger beer had gone, and that I faced a not insubstantial task in clearing up my room.
To any other Ginger Beer aficionados, I recommend the "quick" Ginger Beer recipe from Mr Jamie Oliver.
Just grate some fresh ginger (no need to peel), mix up with lemon juice, lemon peel and muscavado sugar. Add soda water, stir, leave for 10 minutes, then pour through sieve into a jug. Add some fresh mint. And enjoy the great taste of ginger beer.
Fortunately there is no chance of this form of ginger beer exploding.
So there you go...jokes, amusing anecdotes ...now even feckin' recipes...what more could the discerning blog reader look for?