Tea with Sir Hugh

Degree Jungle

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:29:30 GMT

Always interesting to learn more about British high culture. Great photography and expressions. Looks pretty yummy too.

Kalliopi

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:58:50 GMT

Dear FX, I miss you very much. Why have you disappeared? Hope you are doing well.

maria

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 21:53:12 GMT

salut je cherche la recette des bricelets, auriez-vous en une ? je peux aussi vous aider avec la tradu des recettes du fran�ais vers l"espagnol.

salutations et f�licitations
Ma.Elena
Traductrice

Perovskia

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:57:35 GMT

Thank you so much for this. Really enjoyed the article :)

Vending Machines Sydney

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 05:37:17 GMT

I love tea! It is healthy and really calms me down. This is one of my fave things to purchase in a vending machine!

fx

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 17:28:04 GMT

Yes it is quite a surprise how little known the really fine teas are in England, when you think that the English brought tea to India.

Joseph

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:47:56 GMT

I love afternoon tea; the Savoy is a good place for it. In more modest tea shops on may order "cream tea", which brings it down to the essentials; tea, scones, clotted cream, and good jam. I also love estate teas, which I learned about in Germany, not the U.K. Why does the grand and useless English tea ceremony never include outstanding tea? Are they afraid it will overshadow the cucumber sandwiches?

fx

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:22:04 GMT

Yes, asking for a scotch on the rocks in Edinburgh is a good way to get deep fried!

John Pellino

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:16:20 GMT

That mouths-agape-"clotted cream" look was much like the look I got in Edinburgh when I asked my host for scotch on the rocks.

fx

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:03:26 GMT

Hello Jenna, glad you liked my piece. I passed on your comments to Lady Gaynor and she says you are too good, it was my camera that was flattering. She is like this!

Jenna

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:42:52 GMT

I"ve just discovered your blog (goggled up terrine de foie gras recipes, and your video came up as one of the sites). I adore High Tea, and your article has made me decide that I must do High Tea at the Wolesley during this holiday season. I"m another scone lover who thinks they are pure bliss (when they are good - there are, unfortunately, too many horrors which call themselves scones which give true English scones a very bad name).

Love your humour and passion, and I will eagerly follow this blog in the future.

Incidently, Lady Sir Hugh is a stunning, stylish, and elegant woman and now my ideal of what I"d like to look like at her age!

Lin

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 22:22:22 GMT

Excellent! Merci pour cet article plein d"humour et d�licieux a lire!

fx

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 22:12:38 GMT

Oh no, there is much more to it. Why would I mention these particular marbles in an article about tea? Hmmm - perhaps a roman � cl�? So far nobody found the key I"m afraid.

quinn

Sun, 5 Apr 2009 21:56:03 GMT

I thought the image of the fragmented marbles was meant to convey the chaos that ensues when one declines the clotted cream...

So glad I discovered your site today!

fx

Sat, 4 Apr 2009 07:22:44 GMT

Yes these are one of these pastries that can be delightful when served fresh and perfectly made, or horrible if not!

Joe Marfice

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 23:51:55 GMT

British scones are a lovely pastry, I"ll agree. When they are made in America, they are invariably sweetened to the point of being merely dried-out small cakes.

English "dessert": cheeses, (unsweetened) clotted creams
American dessert: cheesecake with chocolate, super-sweetened fake "whipped cream"

I miss English restaurants.

fx

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:30:11 GMT

Well Julia this one "Lord" would argue that English cultural treasures are mostly in American museums nowadays. But I understand the way you feel!

julia pantax

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:41:41 GMT

Good morning
Ireally enjoy your recipes and travels around the world but this time there was a big mistake u made with the British Lord, the Elgin marbles is a trick of the British to hold still the Parthenon Marbles of the stolen treausures by the British Lord Elgin who paid the Turkish occupiers to steal the heritage of Greek eople.

Thank you for listening and u check the thousand of European people who support the return of the stolen tresures by the British including the Parthenon Marbles.

Best Rgds
Julia

fx

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:40:56 GMT

As Earl Grey go I like R� di Sicilia made with essence of Sicilian bergamot. Rather good, for a perfumed tea that is.

James

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:50:31 GMT

Maybe you should try this Earl Grey Bravo from Adagio tea, adagio.com

Tried many brands of Earl Grey and was very disappointed till I found this from Adagio...

As always, love your photographs and sense of humor.

fx

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:38:27 GMT

Thanks Laura, we are on the same page I think! I"ve had many run-ins with shopkeepers when taking pictures, sometimes they can be really rude. One told me once in Paris, "I could call the poooolice and they"ll come and confiscate your camera", to which he received a snappy "You go to that". Some people are just silly.

Laura D.

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:49:34 GMT

Scones are widely available in, well, my part of the U.S. anyway (Chicago). Some are good, some are really horrible, but they"re quite easy to make, so I usually eat them only at home. That way I can be sure they"ll be the best. I do need a source for good real (not UHT) clotted cream though.

To Ouro: saying English tea is unnecessary is like saying the backyard barbecue is unnecessary, or cookies at Christmas are unnecessary...you could just eat gruel every day alone in your cell, too, but what kind of life would that be?

Francois, taking photographs in public has become something of a no-no here in Chicago, too. I want to believe that it"s low-rung officials exerting their petty power, but it"s widespread from retail shops to public libraries to train stations that my husband and I are told photos are not allowed. Hmph!

Finally--could you ask for a better photographic subject than Lady Gaynor? Her expressions are fantastic, and she"s so obviously full of life. I"d love to have tea with her.

fx

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:14:28 GMT

Mami, I visited Tamarind, Veraswami and the Cinnamon Club, three of the finest Indian restaurants in town. My fave is Tamarind.

Mami

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:22:28 GMT

So, you were in London last week. Lovely article on traditional afternoon tea. Wolseley is a good restaurant and I always enjoy having meals there. Afternoon tea is something I haven"t had a chance to try it - kind of thing, you need to have time to enjoy. I must try one afternoon before I leave London! where else did you dine at while your stay in London?!

fx

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:47:56 GMT

Thanks Mike, yes a lovely time I had! No time for roast beef though, I only ate Indian.

Mike Jones

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:28:59 GMT

Looks like you had a great time in London Francois! I hope you made it to my favourite restaurant, Simpsons on the Strand (downstairs for the best Roast Beef!)

fx

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:01:02 GMT

Lapin rouge, you read my mind, next week will be an article about the pub!

fx

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:00:49 GMT

Yes it does!

fx

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 08:54:24 GMT

Oh but I have all the tea in China at home, rarely every drink tea outside of my home since it"s never reall as good. Someday I"ll tell you all about it in an article!

Lyra

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:57:02 GMT

"a posh S&M club" eh FX? I like your style:) I"m sorry you ended up with bland tea! The best I ever had was in Darjeeling itself, at a tea merchant"s shop. If I was food blogging then it would have made a great post!

Free

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:03:13 GMT

This reminds me of Agatha Christie (Hotel bertram) so British!

lapin-rouge

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:54:06 GMT

Very, very fine article - you have captured the escence of Britishness & are well on the way to becoming an honory Englishman yourself!

I look forward to your next step (perhaps the opposite end of British culture) - the Pub ?

Cheers!

fx

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:04:05 GMT

Thanks, yes teas that come in tea pots witout a mesh or sock inside always become oversteeped in the later cups - there is no escaping that!

Rosa

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:31:05 GMT

How glorious but if the tea was under done it can be ghastly. In NZ I often make Pumkin and date scones they are truly yummy. Love your articles. Rosa

fx

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:36:53 GMT

James I would love to visit Madeira, and if I ever do I"ll make sure to include a visit to Reid"s Palace! As for the Wolseley, I can confirm it was a Barclay"s bank *after* being a car showroom, but I didn"t know that it became a Chinese restaurants ont he way to becoming "The Wolseley".

fx

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:31:07 GMT

Thanks Don, sometimes I can only grab a couple snapshots in available light so I have to improve the package with more text. More on this later!

fx

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:26:20 GMT

Alys, I meant this tongue-in-cheekly to indicate that these were (in my eyes!) one of those foods that are popular in a country for cultural and historical reasons but that really don"t have much for themselves culinary wise.

fx

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 09:24:42 GMT

Thanks Donna, indeed sometimes these teas are really stuffy and the whole thing feels like the Egyptian Mummy room at the British Museum, and this one was especially enjoyable since it was anything but stuffy!

Donna Young

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:03:54 GMT

Francois, that tea looked so delicious (and rather than pompous, looked like a jolly, good time)! I wish I was there, alas, and in order to console myself, I may have to go to tea at the St. Regis Hotel (Astor Court) in New York City. Their tea is quite amazing too (sometimes including some lovely notes from a harpist or a classical guitarist). All best, Donna

alysO

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:36:16 GMT

"The top tray is garnished with warm scones, a rather good British pastry that never really took on abroad"

Certainly a staple in all of the parts of Canada that I have lived. And, very good with a wide variety of jams and jellies ... and clotted cream.
:-)

don siranni

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:54:07 GMT

Francois,thanks for taking me with you on yet another journey.Whenever you start to get in clever mood,I see I need to reread the article several times to catch it all.Photos,as always need to be studied to fully appreciate-as art for commoners.

James

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:39:47 GMT

Love your site FX, I"ve only come across it recently, but you have some very interesting and informative articles and superb photos. I lived and worked near Sakai for a year and seeing your knife article brought it all back to me.

Glad to see you over here in England, I have to say that the Wolseley was a great choice to sample the traditional English afternoon tea; only surpassed (in my humble opinion) by the experience at Reid"s Palace hotel in Funchal, Madeira. The Orange Pekoe tea was fantastic, the cakes, scones and sandwiches (cucumber included of course) delicious, though my clotted cream portion didn"t have any of the crust with it.

One thing I should mention is that it wasn"t a Barclays bank before it became the Wolseley in 2003. Previous to that it was a restauarnt called China House, an over-priced, uninspiring chinese venue.

fx

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:17:04 GMT

Annie, this must have been quite an experience - memorable! For us guys it"s a bit difficult as most people do not travel with a suit and one is needed for the Ritz. Weather was great, better than Switzerland in fact!

fx

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:15:57 GMT

Yes I agree, now the type of pastries served for tea in posh places in London are pretty much set, scones, sandwiches, etc... but at home you could make all sorts of other pastries closer to current tastes.

fx

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:13:36 GMT

Thanks and glad you liked the tableware too!

Sally Paulson

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:36:35 GMT

Loved the pictures etc. about tea with Sir Hugh and wife. �Tea �-- �hot and poured from a silver teapot into a "frail" china cup(with saucer, please) is just the best treat of all. �

Johanne

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:27:03 GMT

It always makes me smile when I see tea enjoyed with all the bourgeois garnishes of upper class society. The sandwiches, the little desserts and the scones of course are all so wonderful! I"m no Anglophile, but I am in love with "tea parties" as it were. Happy to see some pictures from a place so elusive, thanks!

Annie Nielsen

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:07:57 GMT

Oh, Francois

The tea looks delicious! My first afternoon tea was at the Ritz Hotel. It was a special treat on my budget London trip with my best friend. It was total worth the GBP 30 that we each paid. In my humble opinion, the Ritz Tea has the best strawberry jam in the world and I have yet to find a brand that is comparable.

We"re (me & the husband this time) off to London at the end of April and we"re going to have afternoon tea at The Berkeley. Can"t wait. How was the weather during your trip?

fx

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:20:59 GMT

And she is a lot of fun! I really want to go back for lunch, such a grand place and soooo much less stuffy than the Ritz next door.

Deborah

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:15:35 GMT

What a pretty lady. She looks like a lot of fun, too. I love the Wolseley...