In celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s historic Platinum Jubilee, I ordered myself a new-to-me tea cookbook. Drawn in by Fortnum & Mason’s signature blue cover, I liked the creamy graphics right away. Published in 2014, in association with the British Historic Royal Palaces, Tea Fit For a Queen with introduction by Lucy Worsley is an engaging little confection. You may be familiar with the impish blonde historian from her programs shown in the United States on public television. She is joint chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces and was awarded the Order of the British Empire. You can find out more about her and her work here: Lucy Worsley
Historic Royal Palaces is a non-profit in charge of six royal palaces, including Tower of London, Banqueting House, Kensington Palace, Hillsborough Castle, Kew Palace, and the Tudor royal residence where Rose visited on her last trip to England, Hampton Court Palace. These lines from the British Historic Royal Palaces organization, “We are a team of people who love and look after six of the most wonderful palaces in the world. We create space for spirits to stir and be stirred,” puts the feeling perfectly. It is lovely to browse their website, planning armchair or future travel to visit these evocative and romantic places. Historic Royal Palaces website Make sure to read Rose’s blog for more on this beautiful and extremely historic castle.
Though Lucy is the “face” of Tea Fit for a Queen,” writer Imogen Fortes and recipe developer and food stylist Emma Marsden are the creators of the stylish book. Though none of the recipes are particularly ground-breaking, they are presented in a charming manner with end papers done in repeated pattern of the Historic Royal Palaces crown design. The cookbook includes all the traditional recipes one expects for afternoon tea and is beautifully photographed with the bespoke bone china “Royal Palace” from Historic Royal Palaces’ own shop.
Recipes for Coronation Finger Rolls, Fruit Teacakes, All-Butter Almond Shortbread, and Sultans & Spice Biscuits all look delicious and make me want to give them a try on a future tea party menu. The Welsh Rarebit with Wholegrain Mustard & English Ale looks especially yummy and would be a perfect lunch when accompanied by a green salad. The cookbook also delves a little bit into some history of the palaces under their care.
My dedicated tea cookbook shelf came about because my tea cookbooks outgrew the finite space for cookbooks in the kitchen. As is the case with Tea Fit for a Queen, most tea cookbooks are slight variations of usual afternoon tea recipes which is not a complaint! British-style afternoon teas adhere to a fairly traditional menu of scones and tea breads, savories and sandwiches, followed by various sweets, petite desserts, and cakes, of varying degrees of lavishness. It is fun to see what a new tea cookbook will come up with in presentation and recipes, while fitting into the tea menu norms. The book styling can be quite beautiful and charming, adding to the pleasure of reading about and imagining tea parties you might have. Many tea cookbooks are quite small in size, a jewel in the hand. Many are works of art, featuring the illustrator’s artistry with watercolor paintings decorating the recipes or photographs of beautifully designed tea tablescapes and food styling. I keep the ones which put me in a tea party mood, transport me to an elegant hotel tea lounge, or inspire me to bake up a new variation on an old favorite.
Above are some snapshots of my tea bookshelf. Some old favorites are Time for Tea by Michele Rivers and Afternoon Tea Serenade by Sharon O’Connor. Time for Tea is a book I often pull out to reread. The author has based her 1995 book on interviews with thirteen British women about their relationship to tea drinking and how it fits into their lives. The look of the cookbook is charming with ladies photographed with their tea things at hand, from simple farm house to estate drawing room to country tea room. The latter supplied my favorite quote from their little outdoor sign, “Polite Dogs Welcome,” which I think is what we’d all prefer. Cats, of course, will do whatever they please.
Afternoon Tea Serenade is quite different. I received a press copy from the old kitchen store where we sold Sharon O’Connor’s Menus and Music line of CDs that each came with a cookbook, such as dinner music or jazzy brunch. The idea is to play the CD when you are hosting an event or serving a festive meal. I almost immediately lost the CD and never did bake any of the recipes but the descriptions of the hotels from which she collected them was fantastic. She had visited the best hotels here and abroad, seeming to have a grand old time doing so, and good for her, making the book a fine read.
It has been fun revisiting some old favorites and looking into a pretty new cookbook to add to the collection. As you can see, there is a little more room on the shelf for the next volume.
It has been fun revisiting some old favorites and looking into a pretty new cookbook to add to the collection. As you can see, there is a little more room on the shelf for the next volume.
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