Ginger

No, not Prince Harry.

I have a drink I use to quench my thirst in preference to plain water - 3/4 water, half a dozen or so pieces of ginger root, peeled and sliced into chips and 1/4 Lidl pure apple juice. It's really refreshing. I simply top up with water and apple juice as necessary.

I bleach the bottle and used new ginger when the mix starts to ferment, which is usually after about a week - I can tell, as it starts to get a bit fizzy. I am left, however, with rather a lot of ginger root which, while slowly fermenting, is perfectly capable of being used for crystalised ginger, which I thought I'd have a go at making.

Very nice it is too, and rather simple to make, although I probably overdid the sugar on this occasion.

Just boil the root pieces for 30 minutes in just enough water to cover them, strain, and then gently simmer with an equal weight of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water until nearly dry.

I have a problem with this recipe and would make some changes next time: 

• I don't really know why you should boil the ginger in water first to tenderise it, as water only gets to 100 degrees C, whereas sugar gets way beyond that. Additionally, you lose a lot of the ginger flavour in the water, which is discarded.
• I think an equal weight of sugar is a tad too much, especially when the ginger is waterlogged. Perhaps 3/4 the weight of sugar is enough. 
• Next time I won't pre-boil the ginger, use an amount of sugar equal to the unsodden weight of ginger, which will reduce the amount, add 3 tablespoons of water and let the hot sugar do all the necessary work.