Afternoon tea with Earl Grey

Tags

aboltion of slavery in the British Empire, afternoon tea party, British Empire, Earl Grey, Earl Grey tea, Patrick Stewart, Royal Shakespeare Company, slavery, Starship Enterprise

A short history of Earl Grey Tea

The earliest tea blend sold to the public was Earl Grey, named for British statesman Sir Charles Grey, 2^nd Earl Grey.

Earl Grey;  Wikipedia picure

Around 1830, while prime minister (1830-1834), Earl Grey sent envoys to China to bid England’s business.  According to legend, one British envoy saved the life of a Chinese mandarin. Grateful for his life, the mandarin thanked the the prime minister with a gift of black tea scented with oil of bergamot.  Grey and his wife, who were famous for their tea parties, loved it and asked for the receipt (recipe).  Soon their friends could order Earl Grey blend from London tea merchants.

Earl Grey is plain black tea infused with the citrus flavour of bergamot (similar to orange blossoms or lemon zest). This gives a bright, tart and refreshing tea that is unlike other black teas.

Captain Picard

Any Star Trek fan knows Captain Picard, of the Starship Enterprise, drinks Earl Grey tea (hot!) during his intergalactic travels.

Patrick Stewart, who is  British and has a theatre background at the Royal Shakespeare Company, drinks what every self-respecting English person drinks: Earl Grey tea.

Picard is frequently shown drinking Earl Grey tea and issuing an order by saying “Make it so.”

Well, lots of other people drink Earl Grey too. It’s one of the most popular and well-known kinds of tea in the Western world.

Although Earl Grey is immortalized by his namesake tea blend, he was responsible for  the legislative act to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Seems like quite an accomplishment, yet most people know him for his wonderful tea instead.

Afternoon Tea – presentation at Court

Tags

debutantes, London Season, Presentation at Court, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth ll, Queen Victoria

The presentation at Court

Our recent blogs have covered some of the social rituals closely associated with afternoon tea during the reign of Queen Victoria. This blog introduces the really biggie – “The London Season” with its highlight, presentation at Court.

Presentation at Court, 1930; Telegraph picture

For the young lady of the Victorian era, formal entrance into Society was by way of sedate dancing … and a courtsy to Queen Victoria.  After presentation, the ‘débutantes’ would party non-stop; this was The London Season, which began in early summer, consisted of elegant afternoon tea parties, polo matches, races at Royal Ascot, and balls held in great houses. The London Season concluded in time for the grouse season, the second week in August.

Who was admitted into society, you might ask? Daughters of the aristocracy were shoo-ins. Daughters of men of substance – country squires,  army and navy officers, notable physicians and barristers. Daughters of wealthy merchants and manufacturers came on the scene at the end of Victoria’s reign.

Elegant tea party; photo Alan Mirabelli

The presentation at court signalled to society – especially to well-to-do bachelors – that the young ladies would make a splendid match (The London Season was Victorian code for marriage market).

The last débutantes were presented at Court in 1958. Queen Elizabeth II abolished the ceremony in part to modernize the monarchy. In 2008, on the 50th anniversary of its termination, the Telegraph carried a first person account of a presentation at Court.

“The presentation at Court itself was also becoming open to abuse, as well-born ladies charged large fees to bring out girls whose credentials were not always the highest  The most notorious of these was Lady St John of Bletso, a Lady Bracknell figure who would launch several debutantes at once. By 1958 the exclusivity of the Season was eroded. In the immortal words of Princess Margaret, ‘We had to put a stop to it. Every tart in London was getting in’ “.

In many cases this event gave way to débutantes balls around the world, with the attendant corporate sponsorships, ticket sales and a heft fee for the young lady for her debut, with all proceeds going charity.

The Lady of the Manor is At Home

Tags

afternoon tea, At Home, cup of tea, finger sandwiches

At Homes

Recently we have been blogging about afternoon tea and the role of this simply splendid ritual played in Victorian times.  Our postings, Very Victorian way of life, The Social ritual of afternoon tea and most recently, The Morning Call, the Facebook of the Victorian era, dealt with aspects of Victorian life and afternoon tea. Today, we introduce the At Home.

Photo: E. Rouleau

In certain social circles, the lady of the manor would designate one or two or more days of the month for her At Home – a day (within a restricted time frame) when casual acquaintances could drop by for chatter, and of course a cup of tea and some finger sandwiches. This was the Victorian version of the Open House.

A lady would let be known – ever so discretly to be sure – the days she was At Home to callers. The form for At Homes called for the  lady of the house and a few of her female relatives to gather in the drawing room in front of a blazing fire at the set time and await the appropriate servant to announce and usher in the lady callers. For callers, the prime purpose for attending Her Ladyship’s At Home was to keep ‘in circulation’ and most visits did not last more than 20 minutes, as the caller could very likely hit two or three At Homes in the same afternoon, if the distances were not too great to travel by horse and carriage and providing ladies of the adjoining manors were also hosting their At Home the same afternoon.

For Her Ladyship, there was a certain method in this Victorian networking system – At Homes meant the really popular, or well-connected, lady of the house was free to gallavant wherever she pleased the rest of the time.

The Morning Call – The Facebook of the Victorian age

Tags

afternoon tea, paying and receiving social calls, social rituals, The Morning Call, Victorian social rituals

Good morning!

We’re working our way through some of the simply splendid social rituals and customs of the Victorian Age and today we introduce you to The Morning Call.

Email, texting, bloggig, tweeting, Facebook and whatever else technology will surely send our way to keep us connected, is nothing compared to The Morning Call.  Paying and receiving social calls consumed  the energies of thousands of gentlewomen in the Victorian era. “The Call” was how they maintained and enlarged their cirlcle of acquaintances.

The time for making these networking calls was after lunch – still daylight, therefore the “Morning Call”.  No well-heeled gentlewoman would dare make A Call before lunch –  that’s because the lady of the house was dealing with her household staff to plan the dinner menu, the weekend guests, the household account and the myriad of details it took to run a Victorian household.

Visitors making The Call would be assured of a cup of tea and a scone at minimum. Larger households pulled out all the stops and set a tea table replete with sandwiches, tea, a cake or two and of course scones and clotted cream and preserves, and an equally-fine tea service.

“Calling” was the Victorian way to maintain and regulate social networks. Surely a  more genteel pastime than tweeting one’s whereabouts.

Let’s kick start a revival of this genteel pastime by using Mother’s Day and make The Morning Call an annual tradition.

 Comment and let us know how you spent Mother’s Day.

Afternoon tea: Five must do’s for May

Tags

American Kite flying Association, fine bone china teacup, grandmother's tea set, Leap of Cake, Mother's Day Tea, WE LOVE YOU MOM

Hope springs eternal
and here are five small indulgences for May

At the start of every month, we offer you a short list of pleasant activities mostly focussed on afternoon tea. Herewith five suggestions for the month of May 2013.

KITE FLYING In our corner of the world (Toronto, Canada), spring breezes are definitely blowing, so we thought this is a good time to go fly a kite. Kites originated in China and have been around for at least two thousand years. Through trading, kites spread around the world, arriving in Japan in the 7th century; buddhist monks flew kites to avert evil spirits. Fast forward to the 18th and 19th centuries when kites became scientific instruments and it was only in the last 50 years that kites became a big-time recreational activity. So, celebrate spring and go fly a kite. If you have unique stories about kite flying or a favourite park for kite flying, send us a comment. For more information about kite flying, kite festivals, please see the American Kitefliers Association.

A LONG WALK If flying a kite is not your cup of tea, treat yourself to a couple of long walks throughout the month. Nothing beats the steady pace of walking in a public garden or ravine to clear winter from the mind and the soul.

A FINE TEACUP A good frolic in the park with your kite, or a long walk, calls for a good cup of tea as your just reward. Last month, one of our small indulgences was a Brown Betty teapot. This month, acquire a fine teacup. Or perhaps two, so you can have tea with your best friend. Lucky you if you have Grandmother’s fine tea set; if not really good bone china cups and saucers can be had in antique stores, garage sales and don’t forget on-line auction sites. 

MOTHERS DAY And who can forget Sunday May 12 is Mother’s Day. Treat your mother to afternoon tea with your Brown Betty teapot and fine china teacups. Your mother lives out of town? We have the perfect solution.  It’s easy to say, “WE LOVE YOU MOM” with a bone china teacup and oval saucer, a sleeve of lavender shortbread biscuits and 50 grams of Baroness Grey choice loose leaf tea. Gift wrapped and be-ribboned with a tulle bow. $49.00 CDN plus taxes and delivery anywhere in North America.

LEAP OF CAKE You will need a special cake for your Mother’s Day tea. We are pleased to introduce Mardi South, one of Toronto’s finest independent Cake Artist. View and order from Leap of Cake.

Do you have a special Mother’s Day rituals, or memories? Share them through a comment!

 

A very Victorian way of life – or how to take tea at every occasion

Tags

a well-brewed pot of tea, Presentation at Court, Queen Victoria's 64 year reign, rituals of afternoon tea; Victorian afternoon teas, the London Season, the Morning Call; the At Home, Victorian pomp and pageantry

Photography: Alan Mirabelli

In our last post, we introduced you to a ritual of the proper Victorian afternoon tea – an occasion to visit, nibble and chat – we’re pretty sure Victorian Ladies had a better vocabulary, but we digress. The next several postings will introduce you to other Victorian rituals like the Morning Call, the At Home, The London Season and concluding with the Presentation at Court. Needles to say, a good cup of tea was instrumental in every occasion.

Many have asked us why we focus exclusively on Victorian afternoon teas in our catering business. The simple answer is we love the Victorian era – a time in history full of pomp and pageantry, a time full of orderly rituals and a time full of great promise. The era began in 1837 and ended  in 1901; during the intervening 64 years, England and the English people experienced extraordinary changes and upheavals. There were good outcomes and there were bad outcomes.

For instance, this historic era saw England become a naval super power and endure the tragic Irish potato famine. For better or worse, English law and order went to the four corners of the world, and at home, the Industrial Revolution saw the end of a way of life and the dawn of a new way of life. The Crimean War was considered one of the first “modern” wars because railways and telegraphs brought news of the less than stellar warfare into the breakfast rooms of the nation. Civic engagement became more commonplace, yet women could not vote. But by the by, elected officials came to trust ordinary folk and women in England got the vote nine years after the end of the Victorian era.

Through the good, the bad and the ugly times, the Victorian era, ruled by a formidable female monarch, enjoyed peace and prosperity; refined sensibilities and unsurpassed national self-confidence. It was a time when Britannia Ruled the Waves and much else.

It is our firm belief that the well-brewed pot of tea played an integral role in this historic unfolding.

If you have any thoughts on the Victorian era, please comment on our blog.

The social ritual of tea – an occasion to visit, chat and nibble

Tags

afternoon tea, chicken tea sandwiches; tea caddy, Queen Elizabeth 11, Queen Victoria, Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas

Afternoon tea, usually served between 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., became popular during the 1840s and remained so throughout Queen Victoria’s very long reign. An urn of boiling water was carried to the lady’s drawing room along with teapots, and the caddy which held the loose leaf tea. The lady of the house prepared the tea and poured – this was her repsonsibilty. Once the tea was poured, the servants handed the cup and saucer to guests. The servants offered small cakes, cucumber sandwiches, scones and clotted cream and other dainties.  Here is a recipe for such a dainty.

Simply Splendid Chicken Tea Sandwiches

1/2 cup finely chopped cooked chicken (no skin)

1/4 cup chopped almonds (blanched)

1-1/2 teaspoons chopped green onions

Combine these three ingredients together.

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Whisk these two ingredients to blend flavours thoroughly. Add mayonnaise/mustard blend to chicken until a spreadable consistency is achieved. Should you need more a more spreadable consistency add 1/2 a tablespoon of mayonnaise to the chicken mixture.

Butter 12 slices of bread; spread the simply splendid chicken spread on six slices of bread; cover each slice; press firmly on the sandwiches; trim the crusts and then cut each sandwich into four. Garnish with watercress stems and seedless green grapes

Afternoon tea is recognized as a thoroughly British tradition in every corner of the world. Queen Victoria, England’s longest reigning monarch (although she may have to give up the distinction pretty soon to her great-great-grand-daughter, Queen Elizabeth ll), made afternoon tea very popular. At Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas, we are dedicated to recapturing the charm and the elegance of this splendid English tradition. We are a niche catering company serving the Greater Toronto Area. We prepare and deliver an array of freshly-made finger sandwiches and tea cakes. If required, we can also provide you with fine table linens and fine bone china.

Queen Victoria would be pleased!

Do you have afternoon tea rituals? We’d love to hear from you.

Afternoon Tea: Girls and Pearls

Tags

afternoon tea, Best female friends (BFF), Girls wearing pearls, Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas

Gather your BFFs, polish your pearls and set out your china cups and saucers for a memorable afternoon of tea, sandwiches, scones and girl talk!

If you live in the Greater Toronto area, this is the last call for Girls and Pearls afternoon tea before we post our Mother’s Day afternoon tea and tea gifts.

A cup of tea – Just what you need in tough times

Tags

cup of tea, Relax, www.splendidafternoonteas.com

When times are tough for whatever reason, don’t despair.

Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas. Ahhhhh

 

Stop.

Reach for the kettle, the teapot, some good loose leaf tea and make yourself a cup of tea.

Sip gently.

And slowly perspective will return and what seemed insurmountable won’t be as daunting.

The Duchess and the Shortbread

Tags

carvings, Duchess of Cambridge, Duchy Originals, Lavender shortbread

Duchess of Cambridge eats lavender shortbread to satisfy craving

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their first royal tour together, visiting Canada in 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cravings are a well-known side effect of pregnancy. According to the Sun, a London tabloid, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, craves lavender shortbread. And no sooner did the Sun publish this article at then end of December 2012, than the story spread to the four corners of the world. And now, lavender shortbread is decidedly the ‘it’ biscuit.

Not surprising when you consider the therapeutic effects of lavender; this herb is known to relax spasms and benefit digestion as well as settle the stomach.

So go ahead, bake a batch using your grandmother’s recipe, or our recipe published in our last post.

Or go royal and order lavender shortbread from the Duchess’ father-in-law. Prince Charles set up  Duchy Originals, in 1990 to promote organic recipes and farming.

We’d love to hear from you with your stories about lavender or lavender shortbread.

 

The simply splendid afternoon tea menu, Part 3

Tags

afternoon tea, Lavender shortbread, Mary. Queen of Scots, Nova Scotia, Seafoam Lavender Farm, sweet butter

Afternoon tea without a shortbread biscuit? Not possible!

The crusts are trimmed from the tea sandwiches and the scones are in the oven, so now we turn our attention to another staple of a proper English afternoon tea: Shortbread.

Mary, Queen of Scots (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Shortbread originated in Scotland in medieval times. It took a couple of centuries to evolve to its present form thanks to Mary, Queen of Scots who reigned in the latter half of the 16th century.

Shortbread has a high butter content. The traditional recipe is one part sugar, two parts butter and three parts flour; some recipes use a 1:1:1 ratio, and there are variations in between.  But buttery it must be. In 2008, the UK Food Standards Agency updated its labelling rules to indicate “pure butter shortbread” is not blended with any other fats. Nothing beats the taste of pure butter when baking.

Every baker has her favourite shortbread recipe – some include cornstarch, others rice flour; some bake shortbread plain, others bake shortbread with little extra like anise, Madras curry or lavender buds. Here is our recipe for lavender shortbread, one of the more popular biscuits on our afternoon tea menus.

Our Simply Splendid Receipt for Lavender shortbread biscuits

Half a cup of icing sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

Half a cup of cornstarch

3/4 cup of sweet butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon organic lavender buds

Lavender shortbread teapots from Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas

Sift together flour, icing sugar and cornstarch; beat butter with electric beater set at medium. When the butter becomes creamy, blend in flour mixture and beat at low speed briefly until a ball of dough is formed. Rollout dough on a floured surface to desired thickness, cut into desired shapes and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at convection setting 325 degrees until a toothpick inserted into shortbread comes out dry. Do not allow the shortbread to brown. Organic lavender buds can be purchased at most health food stores but for absolutely the freshest organic culinary lavender you can straight to the farm. We recommend Seafoam Lavender Farm in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Seafoam Lavender Farm

Afternoon Tea: Five must do’s for April

Tags

Administrative Professionals, Baroness Grey Tea, Brown Betty, Prince Edward County in Ontario, Queen Victoria, Tea

At the start of every month, we offer you a short list of pleasant activities focussed on afternoon tea. Herewith five suggestions for the month of April 2013.

Take a spring ride in the country. If you live in southwestern Ontario, you can visit Doors Open Prince Edward County www.countymemorytrail.ca on April 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Explore 11 heritage destinations, enjoy programmes in the visual arts, theatre, history and literature. Be sure to visit the local Farmers Market. There’s also a silent auction of 11 one-of-a-kind doors created by local artists. The auction begins on April 19 on Facebook. Pack a picnic or enjoy one of the many tearooms in the County.

Acquire a Brown Betty teapot, if you don’t already own one. In our estimation, the ‘Brown Betty’ is the ultimate teapot. With its typical brown glaze and rounded bottom, the Brown Betty allows tea leaves more freedom to swirl around as hot water is poured into the pot, releasing more flavour with less bitterness. In Queen Victoria’s reign, when tea was at its peak of popularity, tea brewed in the Brown Betty was considered excellent.

Order a pouch of Baroness Grey Tea to inaugurate your Brown Betty. Baroness Grey Tea is available in 50 gram or 100 gram foil pouches. The 50 gram pouch is $6.42 (CDN $) and the 100 gram pouch is $12.42 (CDN $). Both prices inlcude HST (Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax) but NOT shipping charges. Payment by Interac bank transfer. To order:
marilyn@splendidafternoonteas.com

April 24 is Professional Administrative Assistants Day. Behind every great CEO and every great project team, stands an administrative professional ready to perform magic and near miracles. Treat yourself and your admin assistant to afternoon tea. Be sure to make a reservation at your favourite tea room! This day harks back to 1952 when the International Association of Administrative Professionals established an entire week to recognize the nearly 20, 000 admin professionals world-wide.

Check out your public library and order the video Tea with Mussolini.

Enjoy the stellar perfrmance of the renowned cast that includes Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judy Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Cher. There are two memorable scenes in the film where movie maven Maggie Smith and proper afternoon tea intersect.

Invite your girlfriends, warm up the Brown Betty, serve tea and settle in for a really great chick flick.

Have a great April!

And a final (for now) word on scones from Queen Elizabeth ll

Tags

National Archives (USA), National Geographic, Queen Elizabeth ll, royal recipe for scones

This hand-written letter, dated January 24, 1960 and sent to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, contains Queen Elizabeth’s recipe for scones.  So go ahead and give this royal recipe a try and you can rightly boast, “It’s the Queen’s recipe!”

Dear Mr. President,

Seeing a picture of you in today’s newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral.

I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful. Though the quantities are for 16 people, when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk, but use the other ingredients as stated.

I have also tried using golden syrup or Treacle instead of suger and that can very good too. I think the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making and shouldn’t stand about for too long before cooking.

We have followed with intense interest and much admiration your tremendous jorney to so many countries but feel that we shall never again be able to claim that we are being made to do too much on our future tours!

We remember with such pleasure your visit to Balmoral, and I hope the photographs will be a reminder of a very happy day you spent with us.

With all good wihes to you and Mrs. Eisenhower.

Yours Sincerely,

Elizabeth R

Drop scones

4 teacups of flour
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teacups milk
2 whole eggs
2 teaspoons bi-carbonare soda
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons melted butter

Beat eggs, sugar and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together adding remainder of the milk as required, also the bicarbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.
Enough for 16 people

The letter and recipe are reprinted from: Dear Mr. President, Letters to the Oval Office from the Files of the National Archives and is published by National Geographic.

Page 107

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/

How do you pronounce scone?

Tags

afternoon tea, British Isles, Canada, scones, Scotland, Wales

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Scones may well have originated in Scotland. Or in Wales. Or in the north of England. Suffice to say that all evidence points to the British Isles.

You will hear two different pronunciations for “scone.” Which is the authentic one? They both are! The word is pronounced “skahn” in Scotland and Northern England (rhymes with gone) and “skowne” in the south of England (rhymes with own), and this is the pronunciation generally adopted by the U.S. and Canada.

How do you pronounce this wonderful treat?

Either way you pronounce it, enjoy your scone!

Mother nature needs a memo

Tags

Cup of tea; Baroness Grey tea; Scones

Ah spring, where ar’ thou?

Today is March 20- the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere. This season of increasing daylight, warming temperatures and the rebirth of flora and fauna, is nowhere to be seen in Canada where Simply Splendid Victorian Afternoon Teas resides. In Toronto, we woke up to fresh snow on the ground and right across the country the temperature is below zero Celsius. If you’re reading this blog in the southern hemisphere, you’re probably at the beach!

For those of us still toiling with shovels – the snow, not beach variety – we propose a good cup of tea. And yes – now is a good time to bake the scones we posted just last Monday.

While the scones are in the oven, put the kettle on. Start with a quality loose leaf tea, like our Baroness Grey Tea, a blend of high-blend Ceylon black tea leaves, cornflowers, citrus peel, rose petals and the traditional bergamot oil. Pour about one cup of the boiled water to your teapot, swish the water about and drain.

Add one rounded/level teaspoon of loose leaf per cup of tea. Pour the freshly-boiled  water over the tea leaves, give the leaves a gentle stir and let brew to your desired strength.

Pour. Add lemon or milk; sugar

Enjoy!

Baroness Grey Tea is available in 50 gram or 100 gram foil pouches. The 50 gram pouch is $6.42 (CDN $) and the 100 gram pouch is $12.42 (CDN $). Both prices inlcude HST (Canadian Harmonized Sales Tax) but NOT shipping charges. Payment by Interac bank transfer. To order:
marilyn@splendidafternoonteas.com