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When Ludwig Zamenhof invented Esperanto in 1887 his goal was for humans to communicate in a common language so peace and international understanding could be fostered regardless of regional or national tongues. Perhaps he was not aware that a lingua franca already existed and it is called beer.

When tasting beer describing it as having coffee, treacle, and liquorice flavours, or crisp and light body with subtle herbal aroma and soft biscuit malt character is not unusual now but before the mid-1980s there was no tasting vocabulary for beer.

Barrel aged beer – three words that shiver my timbers! I still remember distinctly the first time I had Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer (now known as Innis & Gunn The Original). As befits a beer brewed in Scotland, it was matured in former whisky barrels.

The FoodTalk Show is announcing a special collaboration with well-loved membership organisation Produced in Kent, which champions local produce and is the voice of food and drink in Kent.

Who invented gin, one of the most beloved alcoholic drinks in the world? No-one did because it evolved from something else. That’s why the question where was gin invented cannot be answered either.

After the pandemic halted our broadcasts we're back on air again from 25 October, with a new presenter line up and the usual mix of brilliant guests.

In February 2020 it was announced that ITV had renewed it’s I'm a Celebrity series for two more years to keep it on our screens until 2022. The twentieth series of the show is being held in North Wales and not Australia due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and will go out later this year. I'm a Celebrity is often a ratings winner for ITV, attracting on average over 9 million viewers each series.

The industrial revolution that started around 1800 was a major turning point in our history. We invented wide scale industrialisation and almost every aspect of ordinary people’s lives was affected. By the mid-eighteenth century, Britain was the world’s leading commercial nation with a trading empire that literally spanned the globe.

It irritates me so much that we have some fabulous, traditional fruits, and yet when the appropriate season arrives, the supermarkets are full of products from countries as far away as New Zealand and South Africa. Yes, even in covid-19 land. How does this happen?

As we all know, enforced social distancing has drastically changed everything about our old shopping habits and behaviours. All retailers are working out how to keep their staff safe, rearrange their floor space, how they serve customers and how to take payment.

I never quite believed that our shopping habits and retail environment could radically change, but in just a few short weeks everything is different. There is now a real appreciation of the independent sector and its role in the local community and the majority of consumers understand that worker safety is a justifiable priority.

As I write, the dreadful scourge of coronavirus has taken 4,300 lives, with deaths on course to double every day until it will flatten out and presumably diminish. Meanwhile our shopping habits and enforced social distancing when in a retail environment, have drastically changed in a way that I never thought possible.