Fruity and Fragrant but it's Not Wine.

Friday 26th October 2012.
Kings Bromley Marina.

We called into Waitrose Lichfield earlier this week for a couple of things and whilst there picked up a copy of their free news paper "Waitrose Weekend", it's full of nice fluffy news with nothing bad and plenty of Delia's recipes.

An article about Vincent Thurkettle and wood fires immediately got my attention, after all most canal boats have a solid fuel stove and most boaters I know burn any wood they can get their hands on.

Vincent has written a book on wood fires, it has sections on how to lay a fire and light it with a fire lighter, orange peel and well dried hedgerow twigs, then there's buying firewood (there's a novelty) and fireside tools, but the section about which is the best wood to burn had me rolling around.

After telling us that he likes Oak and Beech (don't we all) he then gets to Elm which he's  very excited about " It doesn't spark, the embers are excellent, it has an interesting smoke (?), sharp on the nose and slightly eye-stinging but also fruity and fragrant"

If you need to know more the book is called, The Wood Fire Handbook, the complete guide to a perfect fire, £14.99 ( I could get a bag and a half of Stoveheat for that ).