Views on London Podcast: Recent Episodes
Philip Carey
This fortnightly podcast series explores the things that help define London and the British. Imagine if London could speak to you – what would she talk to you about, what sight would she show you, and what questions would you ask her? This is what this Podcast is all about. Views on London will cover an eclectic mix of subjects including • Our drinking and eating cultures • Britishness and London icons • Our way of life and eccentricities • Pleasures and Pastimes • Exploring and getting around London • Royalty and History • Its People and places • And some photographic tips and ideas to help you capture those special London moments.
This new series gives you and overview of the British and London
This series will take you through its history from Roman times to the present day, whilst others will cover some of London’s quirks and characteristics before finishing off by looking at primary central areas of London in detail - theses being the City of London, Westminster and its main sights, the entertainment district, and the different shopping routes in the West end. This is to help you get to know these areas and connect more with them when you visit.
This first podcast is a scene setter to explains how define ourselves as a country and as Londoners as well as orienting you to the City.
To get a visual picture of London, I would recommend referencing some of the longer photo runs as there are plenty of visual and audio information in the form of maps, videos historical prints and photographs that would complement this podcast. In case you don’t have time for this then I have visual reference guide and links in the show notes.
Short Visual History of London
To use a quote by Paddington Bear
“In London, everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in.”
And that is also true of the UK and each area of London so lets start with a quick orientation to the different ways we call ourselves as a country before looking at London.
Britain, The British, The UK, Great Britain England Scotland wales and Ireland – what’s the differences and similarities ?
This Podcast Explores the things that help define London and the British and todays subject is London Nosh – a more in depth analysis of some of British more Iconic dishes such as fish and chips, roast dinners and toast from a factual, practical and historic perspective.
So lets get down to the some general facts about London and food.
In London you could quite easily stay within the capital and effectively taste food from around the world in 80 Restaurants – a modern take on Philias Fogg around world in 80 days challenge
There’s a really vibrant food scene in London with world class restaurants that proudly sit on international lists of best places to eat and they have international chefs who are well travelled and highly creative and top draw. – highest quality for both fine dining and casual dinners.
This Podcast will focus on some of the more traditional iconic British dishes which we are known for to help you understand them better and to entice you to try them.
This podcast will look at the some British foodie facts, it will explain some of the history behind the British pallet , and give an overview of some of the stranger British dishes
I do briefly touching some of the ones that are more associated with typical British cuisines like fish and chips but – these will be subject to their own Podcast
Where as British drinks are well respected around the world, the same is not so true of British Cuisine.
We are reasonably happy with it, and are quite loyal to the traditional foods but like Cricket it can seem a bit confusing from the outside.
We do have many great restaurants – especially in London and fantastic home cooks – family favourites - just ask any of our mothers!
- And we do take a lot of interest in other people cooking given the number of Morning and weekend television programs devoted to cooking – however it’s the eating that we tend to focus on!
Somehow British food an unfair reputation with some visitors will generally describe their impression of British food as as Pleasant , ‘nice’ ‘not too bad’ and sometimes as
bland, soggy, overcooked, and visually unappealing.
However that’s a bit unfair , with a rich mix of cultures and restaurants, you can find great food in London but you may need to do some sleuthing – like Sherlock Holmes to find the best ones for your pallet and there are plenty of websites blogs and apps such as Tripadvisor Toptable and bookatable that can help with booking and reviews and you will get a good meal – but may be not as memorable as those on Continental Europe.
Although the company and venue may well be!
Why is this ? - well find out more in this podcast when we explore its hstory and some of the stranger british and London dishes
This podcast explores why Tea is so much better then coffee and is the perfect London drink.
It Just is!
In this podcast I will begin with a comparative fact check to test the Hypothesis as to whether teas has superiority over coffee, then I will look at the history of coffee and its journey to being in the top four London as well as the causes of its demise in the 19th century and its re-emergence as a contender/pretender in the 21st century.
This Podcast Explores the things that help define London and the British and todays subject is Tea – and why its so in grained in the British Psyche. We will look at the facts, its history, how to drink it and why is so hard to get a decent cup of tea in London.
Tea is the most widely consumed substance after Air and water,
It propped up the British empire, helped the industrial revolution defined class, funded wars and made life more bearable
For example
Its effect on the British
- It Drove society - In Victorian society ladies regularly visited each other and had had tea their social networking
- It Drove Commerce – Made business more productive when they met in coffee house to strike deals or exchange information in a sober manner with of tea or coffee
It Drove International Trade - government helped to establish tea as main drink for the empire and exported to its colonies and collected taxes. And in the late 17c the government a Tax on tea that went up to 119% and accounted for almost 10% of its revenue.
However this led to a rich trade in Smuggled tea!
- It helped the Industrial revolution and made the workforce more productive - sweet drink – and energising them - plus purifies the water - up until then the nations was dependant on beer as the only dependable safe drink - therefore it made us less dependant on alcohol
- It created to wars - the Opium wars with China in the Victorian era ( mid 1800) and the American Revolution (Boston Tea Party) in the 1773
- An it’s Protected by Government - So much so that in WWII – tea stock were hidden and stored in strategic locations and was part of the key supply line for the British troops.
An it has always been – Anytime any place anywhere –
it’s best known as the general drink to Welcoming people of the Btitish - come in for a cuppa and for a gossip!
But we have it formally for
Breakfast
Tea breaks
Afternoon tea
High tea/ Tea (traditional common word for evening meal at 6:00 - Teatime
Even as a night cap hydrate after a drinking session – especially with Toast and a chat.
This Podcast Explores the things that help define London and the British and today’s subject in the British culture series is Gin
We will look at the facts, its history, the types of gin how to drink and where to drink it, and what to drink it with.
Lets start by getting some affirmations about Gin before we deal with some of its unfavourable side effects.
- Hawkey – MASH – I’ll stick to gin – Champagne is just ginger ale that know someone
- Winston Churchill – The gin and tonic has saved more Englishmen’s lives and minds than all the doctors in the Empire
- Humphrey Bogart -Casablanca – Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world – she walks into mine
Ginastics – a sport where you learn the agility and co-ordination of pouring and drinking a juniper-based spirit.
So what is Gin
Both gin and vodka are made from neutral grain spirits (like rye, barley, wheat, corn) but British gin use Barley - gets steeped/soaked with botanicals (fancy word for dried herbs, roots, and citrus peels) and redistilled. So you might sip a gin and taste juniper Whereas vodka you may taste the notes of the grain
This podcast will focus on the London Pint of Beer
It will look at the facts, its history, the different types of beer, how and where to drink it
Beer has a lot going for it
- Around the world, humans consume over 50 billion gallons of beer every year.
- Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic drink on the planet.
- beer is one of the oldest beverages in the world - Dating back to 7000 years – at least!
And beer has been given 5 star ratings from the great and the good – and here are a few examples
- Plato He is a wise man who invented beer
- Shakespeare, Henry V I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety. –
- Benjamin Franklin Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. –
- Homer Simpson Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems.–
- Henry Lawson – Australian poet Beer makes you feel the way you ought to feel without beer. –
Beer is in grained in British and European society - and ironically it’s Grain that has provided us food (bread) and drink (beer) for centuries in fact
- Prior to 1700, the average European consumed 182 kg of bread and 182 litres of beer per year (Allen 1992) – so in equal weight as I litre of beer is around a kg in weight.. Half of all spending was on beer and bread, and three-quarters of all calories came from these two sources alone. The reason for massive beer consumption was simple – water was often contaminated. The problem note by – WC Fields who said that the problem with by water is that you never know where its been
This was especially true in the cities where clean drinking water was in short supply but beer was plentiful cheap and safe to drink. It is hence not surprising that it was consumed throughout the day, from breakfast until the late evening.
We have evolved to drink less beer but its still a firm favourite
As is bourn out from the figures – physical and numerical
Quantity wise
In 2018, 8.5 billion pints of beer _ more than any other alcoholic
In comparison 7.4 billion glasses of wine were sold in the UK
And 1.2 billion pints of cider
And the government benefits from this as the British pay a staggering 11 times more beer duty than drinkers in Germany or Spain.
This Podcast Explores the things that help define London and the British and todays subject is the British Pub
We will look at the facts, its history, how to drink it in it, and how to deal with the inevitable consequences of the morning following the night before – the hangover
This Podcast Explores the things that help define London and the British.
And todays subject is the British Drinking Culture – and why it’s so in grained in the British Psyche. And funnily enough, Grain is the principal ingredient in two of its principal substances - beer and Gin – London’s tipples
In this podcast will look at the culture of drinking by focusing on some drinking facts, and London’s drinking history, and briefly touching on how and where to drink it and the main drinks that are associated with London’s historic drinking. These later areas will be podcasts in their own right.
This Podcast Series Explores the things that help define London and the British. This is an introduction to what the Podcast series will cover.
Imagine if London could speak to you – what would she talk to you about, what sight would she show you and what questions would you ask her? This is what this Podcast is all about
Views from London will cover an eclectic mix of subjects including
- Our drinking and eating cultures
- Britishness and London icons
- Our way of life and eccentricities
- Pleasures and Pastimes
- Exploring and getting around London
- Royalty and History
- Its People and places
- And some photographic tips and ideas to help you capture those special London moments.
Whilst Photoruns.com focuses on the visuals side, this Podcast focuses on the audio and the general chit chat that may go on if London was walking beside you or having a chat with you over a pint or a cup of tea.