fizzytom

http://www.sloveniatimes.com/war-for...lobasa-sausage

Ray51

Well-spotted article , confirming yet another example of EU-madness running rampart !
I write this from Bruxelles today and : YES , we must find "wrong" sausages , B4 we all go to expensive 5-star lunches ( 12 to 4 say ) avec Champers , all "free" i.e. let the idiotic EU-taxpayers fund our follies !

fizzytom

While it might seem on the surface of it crazy for the EU to be involved in such matters, protecting a country's commercial interests in this way isn't that daft. Shouldn't the authenticity of a product be recognised? What would be the attraction in, say, Parma ham made anywhere in the world? There are loads of different cured hams but surely the status of that from Parma should be recognised and protected?

Ray51

Mefinkz : U taking zis far 2 seriously ?
Rather focus on ze ugly bureaucracy in Bruxelles , bending over backwards to please Berlin & Paris ( Impossible tasks ) whilst squandering max. taxpayers moneyz on utter Rubbish ;
this I write from London 2day , Merci to good God above & : Vote UKIP !

fizzytom

I don't think I could vote for any party that had that idiot Nigel Farage in charge of it. UKIP would impose bigger cuts to public services than the Tories and are a bunch of no hopers.

Ray51

Between 3 terms of Labour AND now so-called Tories , our once Great country is ruined 4Ever anyway ; but still we have the Fab British people here , even though they ARE quite bitter , sometimes .
As for Farage : any protest is better than no protest ,
true : UKIP never could really win , nor indeed run our country ...
neither do the Tories today !
So ?

fizzytom

I forgot to add that the homophobic attitude of UKIP is another major turn off - not that I needed another reason to find it a ridiculous party.

Ray51

Sorry : did NOT know about "homophobic" ;
however , a good discussion is v. much needed , otherwise everyone follows in the same stupid trend...
last week , between France , Belgium and Luxembourg ,
I have Never before found such a bunch of angry , disgusted , frustrated peoples ;
the EU ?
What Shit de Luxe !
Just be honest and call it ze 4th Reich !
Merci bien , Mon Ami !

AntsMcMurdosch

Safeguarding an area's product is a good thing, both for consumers and producers. My aunt recently bought some shortbread.

It was called "STIRLING SHORTBREAD".

With a picture of Edinburgh castle.

And it was made in Indonesia.

Now I'm not saying that you can't make shortbread in Indonesia. Or that you can't make good shortbread in Indonesia (look at the high standard of some Japanese whisky such as Yamazaki and Nikka to see how well traditional products can be made with overseas expertise).

But one has to wonder what sort of benefit there is to the local economy with tourists buying a product made on the other side of the world, and whether the fact that it isn't locally sourced is honestly disclosed. And if they think that sales would be affected had more attention been drawn to the fact that it isn't Scottish shortbread, doesn't that imply that it isn't fair to the consumer?

fizzytom

I agree. It seems to me that this sort of thing is something the EU can and should be usefully involved in. It's a shame that retailers aren't more discerning about the products they'll stock.

Re: Japanese whisky - the names would suggest they aren't trying to pull the wool (or tartan) over anyone's eyes. Otherwise they'd have made up some mock-Jock name one would presume.

AntsMcMurdosch

Definitely! They're really proud of their whisky production and rightly so - it's really good, and interesting. There's also a couple of Indian companies and even a few (small-scale/amateur) outfits in Germany, but they're all distinctive.

In fact, one Scottish distillery actually seems to be playing off of the Japanese popularity (or maybe just I think that?)

fizzytom

Ha! That's v sneaky - but clever. That design def has a Japanese look. Have you heard about the Slovenian vodka that is being promoted in the States? A friend also bought me a bottle of Slovenian London style gin for Christmas.

AntsMcMurdosch

I haven't, but it sounds interesting! I gave some friends a little home made slivovka after a night out, and it sent two to the toilet...

It seems that a lot of people make spirits as a hobby or side-business. We were given some really nice orehovec (is that the right spelling? Walnut liqueur) at Christmas, in a nice bottle, in a cardboard box with straw, sold by someone local. It's great stuff! I don't think the exciseman would allow that sort of business here though

fizzytom

Alas I can't try the orehovec as I am allergic to nuts. Shame as we found several bottles of homemade orehovec in our new house when we moved in. The old lady that had lived in it was a bit of a domestic goddess it seems and made her own herbal teas, spirits and preserved fruits and veg.

Still, we have bought a house that has a cracking garden with brilliant vines, raspberrries and other soft fruits and - we are told by the neighbours -a kiwi tree, though we have yet to see that provide fruit as we moved in in January and won't be back till next week.