‘Flock to the Flock’ for the Diamond Jubilee … this Weekend!

The Queen is marking her Diamond Jubilee this year and celebrations are about to reach a peak over this coming weekend.

Not least, we have an extended 4 day weekend starting on Saturday 2^nd June and going right through to Tuesday 5^th June.

Here’s a couple of Royal facts for you …

Did You Know?

If you ever get the opportunity to meet the Queen, there is no code of behaviour that you have to abide by except to be courteous. However, if you wish to follow the traditional forms of greeting, it is customary for men to do a neck bow and for women to do a small curtsy. When presented to the Queen, the correct formal address is ‘Your Majesty’ and then ‘Ma’am’.

 
And if you feel inclined to write to The Queen on her Diamond Jubilee, you can write to Her Majesty at the following address:
Her Majesty The Queen
Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA

And, don’t forget our events here at the Shepherd & Flock.

Monday 4^th June: The Savanna Cider campervan is visiting us and they have giveaways to promote their popular South African cider.

The Savanna cider tour started with the Oxford Cambridge boat race.
Remember it might be dry but you can drink it!

Tuesday 5^th June: Forget the cooking as we put on one of our famous all day BBQs.

There will also be live music on Tuesday of the Jubilee weekend to go with our BBQ.

·         Well-known local musician Vic Cracknell (singer/pianist/guitarist) is performing at lunchtime, hopefully outside in the back garden … weather permitting.

We are also serving a Tiger, 4.8 draught lager originally from Singapore.

It is a huge hit in the current hot weather and very popular with our younger customers … but that’s not exclusive!

And here’s a further …

Did You Know?

Singapore’s own Tiger Beer is one of the most popular beers on the planet. Available in more than 60 countries, Tiger Beer has been brewed since 1932 and is now produced in 11 countries in Asia, more than any other beer on the continent.

Beware of Cannibals … it’s time to put the ‘barbie’ on!

Prompted by the thought of our all day BBQ … on Tuesday 4^th June I thought it was time to investigate further what has become a bit of a national obsession for us Brits!

There are several popular theories of the origin of the term “barbecue”

One centers on a wealthy Texas rancher accustomed to throwing huge shindigs for his pals, cooking whole sheep, hogs, and cattle over open pits. Depending on whom you believe, his name was either Bernard Quayle or Barnaby Quinn, but with either, his ranch branding iron had the letters BQ, with a line underneath, reading “Bar-BQ”.

Another has the English word barbecue deriving from the Spanish word barbacoa, which wordsmiths say came from babracot, a word referring to the greenwood (probably allspice) sticks used to form a cooking grill in the Haitian Taino dialect of the Arawak-Carib language. This is the version favored by etymologists. Texans prefer the branding iron version.

A popular cooking magazine insists that the word came from an extinct tribe of cannibalistic Indians in Guyana thought to barbecue their enemies...!

Others maintain it came from the French term “barbe a queue”, meaning “from whiskers to the tail” …a direct reference to barbecuing whole pigs or cows they say.

Last but not least, a source in North Carolina claims it came from a 19th century advertisement for a joint that served many purposes: whiskey bar, beer hall, pool cue hall, serving roast pig. It was known, so says the story, as the Bar-Beer-Cue-Pig. Texans completely disregard versions referring to cannibals, the French, or North Carolina as transparent hogwash.

Make it a Jubilee Weekend to remember …

It’s less than 3 weeks to go now before the nation gets to celebrate what is set to be a truly unique and memorable extended weekend of celebrations ….

At the time of writing this, I am looking out across a windswept and drenched car park.

So my first thought and wish is that – for everyone’s sake – we have some early summer weather to help lift the mood and ensure all the celebrations go off with a real bang … and I don’t mean accompanying thunder claps!

Here at the Shepherd & Flock we’ve put together a couple of events to enhance your enjoyment over the bank holiday period.

 

 Monday 4^th June: The Savanna Cider campervan is visiting us and they have giveaways to promote their popular South African cider.

The Savanna cider tour started with the Oxford Cambridge boat race.
Situated @The Rocket in Putney, the Savanna camper rocked up with the team who were giving away goodies and sampling this dry South African cider. Although the sun didn't make much of an appearance the Savanna flowed.
Remember it might be dry but you can drink it!

Tuesday 5^th June:  This will be a day to completely forget the cooking as we put on one of our famous all day BBQ s.

And, to get you into the spirit of things we shall be introducing a range of Jubilee real ales during the week leading up to the events.

Come rain or shine, it should be a fantastic way to help you celebrate the Jubilee holiday period and I look forward to welcoming you all at some stage during the proceedings!

The Great British Sunday Lunch … Simply The Best!

The British love of beef, and particularly for lunch on a Sunday is nothing new. It is such a part of the national identity that even the French call us "rosbifs" (roast beefs) and the Yeoman of the Guard - the royal bodyguard - have been affectionately known as, "beefeaters" since the 15th century.

A telling observation by Henri Misson who staying in London in 1698 tells how "it is a common practice, even among People of Good Substance, to have a huge Piece of Roast-Beef on Sundays, of which they stuff until they can swallow no more, and eat the rest cold, without any other Victuals, the other six Days of the Week".

Startlingly, contrary to modern thinking about meat eating, in 1871 William Kitchener, author of Apicius Redivivus or The Cook's Oracle, recommended eating 3 kg (6lb) of meat each week as part of a healthy diet (he also recommended 2 kilos of bread and a pint of beer every day). Today in the UK we eat approximately 1.5 kg of meat each week - only 200g of which is beef - and some think even that is too much.

Kitchener also describes in the book how to roast "the noble sirloin of about fifteen pounds" before the fire for four hours for Sunday lunch. This method of hanging the meat on a spit or in the 19th century, suspended from a bottle-jack and certainly that size of a joint, demanded a sizable fireplace and would be to feed a large household not only on the Sunday but as cold cuts, stews and pies throughout the week.

The less well-off did not have the luxury of a large fireplace or the money for much meat, so the smaller weekly roast would be dropped off en-route to church at the bakers to be cooked in the cooling bread ovens - bread was not baked on a Sunday. With access for all to cook meat on a Sunday, the tradition of the British Sunday lunch began and still continues today.

Though meat is no longer roasted in front of the fire, but today is baked in the modern oven we still cling on to the term Sunday 'roast'.

On Sundays throughout the UK, pubs and restaurants are packed full for the roast dinner - some even serve the meal on other days of the week such is its popularity.

15 Intoxicating Facts About Beer …

Love it or hate it, beer is a universal pastime. Its frothy deliciousness has been with us for thousands of years, and although it's not the greatest invention in the world, it's close....!

Here are 15 things every beer-lover should know, from the smallest brewery to the largest beer mat to how to pour the perfect glass of Guinness.

1. The world's largest beer mat was created by Carlsberg, in Denmark. It measured 15 metres in diameter and had a thickness of 6 cm. It's even too big for the world's largest glass of beer, which contained 1,499 litres of Guinness

2. The fear of an empty glass is called cenosillicaphobia

3. The most varieties of beer commercially available was 2,004, at a cafe in Belgium

4. Belgium also has the most individual beer brands (400)

5. The strongest commercially available beer is Schorschbock 43, which is brewed by Schorschbräu, a Germany brewer. It has an alcohol volume of 43%

6. The oldest known brewing facilities date to 5,500 years ago in the Middle East

7. In 1814, a tank containing 3,500 barrels of beer exploded, causing a tidal wave of beer. Nine people died

8. The oldest known written recipe is for beer

9. The first references to beer date back to 6,000 BC

10. St. Arnold is the patron saint of brewing

11. Vancouver Island has the most breweries per capita in Canada, with Victoria Breweries numbering the highest (6)

12. Pouring a perfect glass of Guinness should take 199.5 seconds

13. Collecting beer mats is called Tegestology

14. The world's smallest commercial brewery is the Bragdy Gwynant, in the UK. It has a maximum brewing capacity of 40.8 litres per batch

15. The largest beer barrel logo had a surface area of 838 square metres. It covered 5,237 empty 50-litre beer barrels from the Karlsberg Brewery