THE NIGHT PORTER

Well first there’s this, from an era lost beyond recall, when somebody at an advertising agency thought that Guinness drinkers might want to sharpen up their knowledge of game. No doubt some of them did, but not so very many, I imagine.

Then there’s this ad from Malaysia. No, the woman doesn’t get to imbibe the Guinness but she seems intoxicated at the very sight of her man drinking it.

How times have changed. Here’s a picture from the celebration of 50 years of Guinness in Malaysia - now the women get to hold the drink.

And then there’s this – Cahill’s ‘smooth Irish Cheddar with rich Irish porter’ - so it doesn’t contain Guinness but the website says it ‘pairs well with a cold pint of Irish Stout.’ I ate it, actually with a glass of Pinot Grigio, and it tasted good, if a bit grainy.

But digging deeper in the Cahill’s website I found a recent notice that said, ‘As a precautionary measure, we at Cahill’s Farm Cheese are recalling a number of batches of our specialty cheddar cheese due to possible presence of Listeria monocytogenes.’ That includes all of their cheddar made with porter. However, since I bought mine at a stall in a farmer’s market and had eaten most of it before I went to the website I shall have to take my chances.