Let’s Talk Food: Tea is a perfect way to fete royal wedding

“What would the world do with­out tea?”

— The Rev. Sydney Smith, 19th-century writer and clergyman

Simon Cowell isn’t exactly a close friend, but we have something in common. Both of us have been for­gotten by the English Royal Family. In spite of repeated phone calls to Buckingham Palace, I have finally come into the reality that somehow my invi­tation to the Big Wedding on Friday was either lost in the mail or some­how some e-query took me off the list. I felt I was certainly entitled to attend since I got up at 4 a.m. to watch the wedding of Princess Diana and the Prince of Wales.

Instead, I will celebrate right here in Naples. There will be several elegant tea parties right in the old hometown. And none of this “low tea” will be served. Instead, there will be a genuine English high tea with all the sumptuous fixins.

As a dedicated admirer of all things British, I feel a deep obliga­tion to celebrate this so-called “wed­ding of the century” with fervor and dedication. Instead of donning my rhinestone tiara and fashion­able wedding duds in London, I’ll be sipping tea in local tearooms and toasting the newlyweds with Earl Grey and hopefully an array of tempting tea cakes, sandwiches, biscuits (cookies) and pots of fra­grant tea infused with either milk or lemon.

I can speak with authority regard­ing tea and tea parties. Throughout my travels, I have been served tea in various venues and have come to regard the British custom of tea to be satisfying to both body and soul.

On motor trips throughout the English countryside, I have en­joyed tea at wayside inns, cozy tearooms and hotel teas and con­sidered it a privilege to occasion­ally be invited into homes for both “high” and “dainty afternoon teas.” The most memorable tea I ever experienced was a funeral tea in Somerset where friends lived. When the local vicar expired, my friends held a funeral tea with lavish cakes, cucumber sandwiches and roll-ups of smoked salmon and ham. A vari­ety of cheeses, biscuits and gener­ous helpings of fine sherry finished off this feast.

Most of the tea consumed in Brit­ain comes from India. The total tonnage imported is about 500 mil­lion pounds of teas, which comes to about six or seven cups a day per head. In Bayswater and Bour­nemouth, there are many elderly ladies who drink so much strong tea they have a permanent flush on their cheeks.

The most famous Brit in the an­nals of tea consumption is without a doubt the 18th-century wit and lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson. He admitted to being a hardened and shameless tea drinker. His tea kettle stood ready to be used from early in the morning until long after midnight.

Almost as important as the tea itself are those tempting edibles that are part of every tea. No self­respecting hostess would dream about serving tea without such ac­companiments as toasted teacakes, crumpets swimming in butter, a selection of small and toothsome sandwiches and any number of ir­resistible sweets, including cakes of infinite variety.

The art of creating an edible feast at teatime challenges the creative hostess. In addition, each part of England has its own traditional comestibles. In Yorkshire, no tea ta­ble is complete without “fat rascal” or “turf cakes.” Both are cooked on a griddle above a peat or turf fire.

Throughout Wales, the natives come to tea expecting oatcakes called “hara ceirch,” which are spread with butter and washed down with buttermilk followed by good, strong black tea.

Include Northumbria in your pil­grimage to find the most delicious tea traditions. Here, the hostess with the mostest has the most coveted recipe for “hinny,” a griddle cake.

Most of our British cousins agree that teatime buns are most likely to appear at teatime. Chelsea buns, spirals of sweet dough crusted with sugar, originated in the borough of Chelsea in London. An establish­ment called Bun House was opened on Pimlico Road expressly for the purpose of selling Chelsea, hot cross and London buns. Variations of the buns are known as London buns.

And do not forget those small, delectable cakes known as maids of honor. The town of Richmond, a suburb of London, claims its ver­sions of the maids of honor are by far the most delicious. The reci­pe is said to have been invented for the court of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

However, no dedicated host or hostess would dream of setting the tea table without dainty, delicious tea sandwiches.

Filled with cream cheese or but­ter, enhanced with watercress, cu­cumbers and radishes, they pique the appetite and satisfy the most fastidious.

The most ambitious Anglophiles here in Naples will plan and execute a wedding tea on Friday’s great event.

The more practical will don ap­propriate attire, join friends at one of the many tea parties in a variety of venues and toast the newlyweds as they begin their marital journey through life’s challenging adven­tures.

Ask Doris

Q: I entertain frequently and like to have food that I can fix ahead of time. At a party in Fort Myers, the hostess served a baked trifle. This is a new version of a dessert I have also served. Do you have a recipe for this dish?

— Geraldine Fulsome

Estero

Q: This is the traditional recipe for trifle except before serving you add the meringue, brown and al­low to cool. I also use pound cake instead of the sponge cake, and for a more flavorful trifle I dip the cake in sherry or rum.

Baked trifle

Ingredients

1⁄3 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch ¼ teaspoon salt 3 large egg yolks for 4 medium egg yolks 3 cups whole milk ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 8-inch sponge-cake layers Meringue for 9-inch pie Preparation

■ Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan. Blend egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of milk; add and mix well. Heat remaining milk and stir into mixture. Stir and cook over hot water or low heat until custard coats a metal spoon. Cool. Add nutmeg, vanilla extract.

■ Split each sponge cake layer.

Place one split layer in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole. Cover with custard. Repeat, using remaining cake and custard, with custard on top layer. Allow to stand for an hour or two or overnight. Top with meringue and bake in a 325-degree preheated oven for 30 minutes or until meringue is brown. Serves 8.

Doris Reynolds is the author of “When Peacocks Were Roasted and Mullet was Fried” and “Let’s Talk Food.”

They are available for sale in the lobby of the Naples Daily News. Also available is a four-part DVD, “A Walk Down Memory Lane with Doris Reyn­olds.” Email: foodlvr25@aol.com.

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