As a chef for many years I have had the pleasure of working in many parts of the world from Monte Carlo to Paris as well as spending 11 years presenting TV Food shows for BBC2, BBC Worldwide, Sky and UKTV food to name but a few.

Behind the scenes however I was always been fascinated with the history of food, the origination of our everyday ingredients ,and so I decided to study and investigate the foods of Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and Mediaeval old England. From this personal passion and interest "The Food Archaeologist "was born!

For over ten years I have been working on an historic food range created from recipes and theories of centuries past. I have explored the flavours and ingredients that once adorned tables of the mighty Roman Emperors, Medieval Knights and Ancient Greek temples, and despite so many challenges and the need for an abundance of patience, I am now proud to have achieved a globally unique product that had not seen the light of day for over 350 years, in the form of a "Mediaeval 15th century Old English Ale-Gar ".

The Ale-Gar ( ale-soured ) not a Vin-aigre ( wine –soured) was created using an Ale recipe once drunk by Queen Elizabeth 1st, the queen apparently drank two pints of Ale for breakfast everyday ,and what was not drunk as an Ale, went sour and was used for preserving .

In my development process I created and developed an "acidulator" from a large oak barrel, in which I developed the acidulation and aeration process, before resting and maturing the Ale for 6 months in a further oak barrel.

As temperature and timing were vital in every aspect of production, as was the initial brewing process, a great deal of development and trials took place accordingly, hence the ten years have been a slow often laborious but equally a stimulating and exciting process.

As I hope you would expect, I have created the Ale-Gar using only the finest quality natural ingredients and once matured, the Ale-Gar is decanted into bottles of which were designed by myself.

Whilst possibly a little naive in this department, I wanted a bottle that looked old yet modern, a contradiction in terms to say the least, but a bottle that had a point of difference in both looks and feel, and a bottle that presents a point of difference for such a unique tasting quality product on the inside, after two years, two re-mortgages two near divorces and considerable loss of sleep, I now the proud father of 50,000 sparkling little gems waiting to be filled!

With regards to the products, the "Ale- Gar" uses are far and wide and is the biggest Ale-ternative to a Balsamic vinegar in its history, actually pre-dating Balsamic by around 150 years. Ale-gar can also make a good ale-ternative to a Worcester sauce and even a soy sauce.

My Ancient Greek and Roman Vinaigres are produced using wine in true fashion. Late harvested grapes are carefully selected for their late harvested natural sweetness and then turned into wine, before being infused with herbs and spices that were once favoured thousands of years ago.

For the Roman Vinaigre I have followed the path of the Romans , in the fact that they would drink vinegar on their marches to quench thirst and to rejuvenate the body , they would add honey to it to give some sweetness and also add herbs for flavour and health giving qualities.

After much research and a year and a half of searching I managed to obtain a Roman Chamomile that is incorporated within the wine infusion, a herb that nearly became extinct, and offers wonderful bouquet and floral undertones.

The Roman vinaigre is sharper than the other two products, is more classic in its use and is fresh clean and well balanced. This true vinaigre makes a perfect and more flavoursome alternative to white wine, or herb infused vinegars such as tarragon.

My Ancient Greek Vinaigre is light pink floral and more feminine, she may offer a kiss and a kick at the same time and is perfectly suited to oriental foods giving the sweet and sour and ying and yang on the pallet a few tablespoons in a wok will extenuate the flavours and perfect flavoursome alternative to rice wine venegars. Both the Roman and the Greek are also perfect for salad dressings, marinades and sauces.

Each period product holds unique combinations of flavours that will enhance modern cooking make for interesting discussion in the kitchen at the dinner table or around the barbeque, they also make for stunning and innovative quality gifts for any foodie, chef or cook!

I am proud and delighted to also announce that these three products have now won 5 gold "Innovation" and "Superior Quality Taste Awards" on the global markets , and after all these years of research and development I can now offer you my " Taste of the past for kitchens of the future"!

Best regards,
Alan Coxon