Opinions
“If there are two cider-makers in a room then three or more opinions are present.”
So we were told before we started making cider and so it has proved. A cursory glance at cider-related social media channels will most likely provide confirmation. This isn't a criticism, it's an observation.
As good a way to start a Saturday evening as any …
Ask a question about cider or cider-making and you'll receive a plethora of suggestions about what you could, should or should not do, offered with generosity and conviction. About anything and everything. Environmental Health Officers. Pectin. Trademarks. Chapitalisation. Wassailing. Keeving. Apple varieties. Equipment. Ingredients. The benefit or otherwise of having a women's cider-making group.
One reason for all these opinions may be that cider-making is or was, traditionally, a solitary business. People did things their own way, developed a way of doing things that suited them, that location, that farm, that family. This is the way we do it, this is the way cider is made and this is what cider should be. More so for cider than for beer, because cider-making is less capital-intensive and the essential raw material - apples - is grown at home on the farm, so it's easier and quicker to set up, so there are more cider-makers, more ways of doing things, more opinions. This is postulation, by the way, rather than an opinion. Please feel free to comment.
For ourselves, we observe but, having a tendency to shyness, tend not to get involved. Being newcomers, too, makes us hesitant to offer up our thoughts, at least on the subject of cider. But being cider-makers we do have opinions. It's a requirement, an obligation. So here we go, here's our opinion about something almost as important as cider, a big (if not bigger) part of the nation's psyche … crisps.
Provenance of the potato; it HAS to be grown in UK. We grow potatoes in this country, very nicely thank you. The idea of shipping either potatoes or crisps over oceans to these shores should be considered a crime - and with the climate emergency in mind, almost a crime against humanity. For goodness sake, only eat crisps that have been made here, and made from potatoes grown here.
Potatoes, oil, salt = perfect!
Flavour of crisp; either low intervention or traditional. Lightly salted is ideal. Cheese and onion is acceptable. There is a personal preference to consign salt and vinegar to the dustbin, despite it being a traditional offering, but we accept this is a valid choice for others. Not quite sure what prawns or prawn cocktail are doing on a crisp. And smokey bacon has its rightful place with an egg on a plate, not in a crisp packet. “New” flavours (by which we mean something introduced in the past 30 years) such as sweet chilli are interesting and can perhaps be tried from time to time but should not be a regular part of your crisp repertoire. More radical ideas, should they ever afflict the crisp industry, such as lavender and banana, must be rejected - there is fusion food, but there is also confusion food.
Brands. Local, where possible. If not possible, then regional or family-owned. National or global as a last resort, but at this last stage it's probably a better idea to consider salted peanuts, or nothing at all. Availability leads us to Tyrrell's or Kettle and we like pubs that sell Piper's.
We used to have strong opinions about colour coding - cheese and onion should be in green packets, salt and vinegar in blue - but age, or the realisation that it doesn't really matter, has mellowed us.
Keep it simple, stupid!
Age, on the other hand, has made us sterner when it comes to ingredients. Potatoes, sunflower oil, sea salt. There really doesn't need to be anything else. Ok, cheese flavouring and onion flavouring are also acceptable, but that's it, thank you. In more youthful, naive, impressionable days we've been guilty of succumbing to the easy charms of false gods but a quick glance at the ingredients list now delivers an instant rebuke and immediate regret at the quantity of Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil we've consumed, together with Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 and Red 40. If it's called by a number, don't eat it. If it's in a tube it isn't a crisp. Duh.
Crinkle Cut? Harmless, we suppose, but unnecessary. Ridge and furrow are features of the landscape, not potato-based snacks.
Multipacks? Don't do it, for the sake of our planet. Packaging within packaging is another crime that needs to be stamped out.
Opinions. These are ours on the subject of crisps. Oh, and one other opinion; of course women can have a women only women's cider group. Why on earth not?
And if you've read this far, whether you agree or not, thank you!