PERFECT SERVE

BE THERE OR BE SQUARE ?

THE BRIEF WAS AS SIMPLE AS IT EVER IS: FIND THE RECIPE AND A BIT OF A BACK STORY ABOUT THE GINGER SQUARE COCKTAIL. EASIER SAID THAN DONE ...

The Ginger Square appears to be a drink that the world and bartenders have almost forgotten. Which is quite sad because it’s a delicious cocktail, made with brandy, ginger liqueur and either ginger ale or ginger beer, depending on your preference, and then garnished with a slice of lemon. It appears that it’s one of those cocktails that never really stepped up into the spotlight, despite being delicious and beloved of South Africans in the seventies.

One of the few references to the Ginger Square allude to it being a drink which was served on the RMS Caronia – and that’s where the cocktail research tale took a bit of a tangential turn ...

Cunard is one of the world’s great shipping lines, known for their graceful oceangoing vessels the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. But the first vessel which was a true cruise liner was the RMS Caronia – the one with the Ginger Square on its cocktail list!

Known as the Green Goddess because of her original green paint job, she was the vessel which kick-started the entire cruise industry at a time when shipping served a practical purpose in moving people from one continent to another. Sailing from Southampton to New York or Cape Town or Sydney was mainly about getting from Point A to Point B as fast as possible – until the RMS Caronia came along and changed things. She differed from the other vessels on the Transatlantic run in that she had a swimming pool, for example, along with bathroom or shower facilities in every cabin – and there were only two classes: First and Cabin. Leisure and relaxation were part of the voyage, not speed to the destination.

Interestingly, RMS Caronia was one of the largest vessels built in Scotland immediately after World War II at 34 000 tons – and Wikipedia reports that was the case until the Queen Elizabeth II was built in 1967. In an interesting parallel she was also launched by Princess Elizabeth – later to become Queen Elizabeth 2 – in October 1947, in one of her final engagements before marrying Prince Phillip!

RMS Caronia boasted nine decks with the promenade deck 665 feet long and was capable of a 22 knot top speed. But she also had more than her share of mishaps ... She was a singlefunnelled vessel, the largest funnel recorded – but it could cause problems handling the steering in high winds.

The first world cruise was undertaken in 1951, calling at 30 ports during the voyage. While in the Suez Canal she ran aground for an hour near the El Ferdan Bridge. Then there was a fire during her annual refit at a Liverpool shipyard. Four years later, in June 1956, she again got stuck, this time grounding on a sandbank outside Messina, Italy.

The RMS Caronia decided to amend the route she cruised, crossing the Atlantic from New York to Cape Town before returning via Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Cunard became embroiled in a lengthy legal battle when the Caronia demolished a light tower at the mouth of the Port of Yokohama on her second around-the-world voyage in 1958!

The ship was sold and spent some years languishing in New York harbour before she was sold for scrap – but while being towed to Taiwan to be cut into pieces, she came adrift and washed ashore in Guam ... partially blocking the Apra Harbour! To make matters worse, she settled alongside a Korean landing craft which had sunk in almost the same spot. The landing craft was loaded with munitions which had to be safely removed before any work could be done on the Caronia ...

Who knew that tracking down the Ginger Square would uncover an interesting story of the first cruise liner?

GINGER SQUARE

1 measure of ginger liqueur 1 measure of brandy

Ginger ale

Lemon zest Pour ginger liqueur and brandy into a heavy based glass. Add four ice cubes, top-up with ginger ale and insert lemon zest garnish. (Ginger beer can also be substituted for the ginger ale, along with a slight squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice. Some bartenders also float three dashes of Angostura bitters to finish off the drink.)

IN THE BALANCE

LIKE THE CHARACTER IN GEORGE ORWELL’S NOVEL ANIMAL FARM, NOT ALL BEERS ARE EQUAL. SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS – AS LUCY CORNE WRITES.

When lockdown – and the associated alcohol ban – was announced in March, South Africans were caught somewhat unprepared when it came to laying in supplies. Initial thoughts were on essential groceries and food stocks. (And for some folks toilet paper appeared to be an issue...) With beer being my passion, for me there was only one beverage I deemed essential: pilsner.

As the weeks dragged on, I wondered if I might eventually get fed up of drinking the same beer every day, but each afternoon I looked forward to a cold one. With lockdown levels gradually being relaxed but lasting longer than anticipated, and with my stock long-since depleted, I wondered if I would still be eager to get my hands on another bottle. Or would I want something different?

There is something special about an expertly-crafted pilsner. It’s a hugely quaffable beer that is great as an all-day thirst quencher,

but which has enough complexity to work well as a pairing for anything from a delicate seafood platter to roast chicken or lightly spiced Thai snacks. In its land of origin, it is even served with heartier fare, such as beef goulash or roast pork with dumplings.

THE BIRTH OF A STYLE

Pilsner was born in the Bohemian town of Plzeň, now a part of the Czech Republic. Beer production here has a long pedigree, kicking off with burgherbrewers back in medieval times. Those with a licence could brew and sell from their homes, but quality was hit or miss and by the 19 th century the beer-drinking public was tired of having to pour their newly-bought beer straight down the chamber pot. Legend has it that in 1838, Plzeň’s citizens had had enough and in a bold statement to half-hearted brewers, they collectively dumped out 36 barrels of sub-par ale into the square for all to see.

Shortly afterwards they joined together to start a brewery: all they needed was an accomplished brewer, and for this they looked to their beer-loving neighbour to the west: Bavaria. Bavaria had become known for their crisp beers, aged in caves in a process known as lagering, and Plzeň wanted to replicate these “lagers” rather than the heavier ales they were then used to. Enter Josef Groll, a Bavarian brewer with a suitcase full of appropriated lager yeast, and a head full of Bavarian brewing knowledge.

This knowledge – and yeast – he married with the soft water of Plzeň and some new malting knowhow developed in England, which allowed for paler malts than the beer world had been used to. The result was remarkable: a crisp, bright beer with a golden hue that would have had influencers of the time rushing for their daguerreotype to capture the moment on film.

The first golden lager beer was – and still is – superb. It was named, as is often the case with Czech beers, for the city in which it was brewed and has become known globally as the original pilsner – or Pilsner Urquell.

If you visit other Czech cities, you’ll find the word “pilsner” conspicuously absent from beer menus – it is reserved solely for the original. But throughout the rest of the world, the term pilsner is thrown around and often misused. Over the years, the words “pilsner” and “lager” have become largely interchangeable, at least among big beer marketing teams.

PILSNER OR LAGER?

It is here that things become a little confusing. You see, a pilsner is a lager, but not all lagers are pilsners. Let’s set aside for now the fact that a lager can be anything from pale yellow to deep brown, or that it can range from 2% ABV up to 15% and beyond. What most people picture when they think of a lager is the pale lager: a clear, yellow-gold beer that’s fairly muted in flavour. It is in fact the biggest-selling beer style in the world.

The word lager comes from the German word lagern, meaning “to store”’. Once fermentation is complete, lagers are stored at cool temperatures for a period of two weeks to several months to create subtle, mellow flavours. Since pilsners are matured using the lagering process, and they use a “lager yeast”, then they are indeed a type of lager. So what is the difference between a pilsner and a pale lager?

It largely comes down to the ingredients – and of course the flavours they create. Pale lagers very often use adjuncts – alternative sugar sources such as rice or maize – alongside malted barley. A true pilsner should be an all-malt beer, with a grainy or bready flavour. This malt sweetness is offset by a spicy hop bitterness, providing the perfect balance that is the hallmark of a great pilsner. Although not unmanageably so, the pilsner is more bitter than a standard pale lager, its palate-cleansing finish being a major factor in making it such a drinkable style.

Even within the genre, there are variations. Generally, pilsners are split into two distinct groups – Czech and German. The Czech pilsner is a little richer and more full-bodied, with a more pronounced bready malt character. The German version – often abbreviated to pils, apparently in deference to the original – is drier, paler and can have a higher perceived bitterness. Both use malt and hops from their respective homelands, giving them a sense of terroir and while this can make them tricky to replicate, many South African breweries invest in imported ingredients to try and recreate the European originals.

Although there are dozens of beer styles to be found around South Africa, my first postprohibition shipment will include a case or two of crisp and brilliantly balanced pilsner.

PICKING A PILSNER IN SOUTH AFRICA

CBC Pilsner This multi-award winning German pils offers a perfect malt-hop balance. An excellent example. Woodstock Happy Pills A bready malt character and an assertive but not overpowering hop bitterness make Woodstock’s unfiltered pilsner a pleasantly complex pint. Mad Giant The Guzzler With notes of citrus and freshly cut grass, this dryhopped pils is clean and very easy to drink. King’s Craft MadKing Pilsner Another German pilsner with a beautiful floral hop note and a pleasant lingering bitterness. Impi Warrior Pilsner A less complex version that’s perfect for quenching a Jo’burg summer thirst. Hansa Pilsener Sweeter than most, Hansa does count maize in its ingredients alongside malted barley and the “kiss” of the Saaz hop – the Czech hop that is the signature of the style. Pilsner Urquell Available once again in South Africa after a long absence, Pilsner Urquell is the original and best. Caramel, floral, slightly sweet but then refreshingly bitter. Simply flawless.