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Two teas

July 14, 2009 2 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized


This Sunday I was invited to two teas…the first The Hidden Tea Room by Lady Gray (which is the tea ‘consort’ of Earl Grey geddit?) which was a ‘proof of concept’ (a business term for a try out) which will be open to the public. The second by Angie who has helped me cook on a couple of occasions at The Underground Restaurant, which, though she asked for a contribution, was open only to friends.

The Hidden Tea was held in a large converted building near to Old Street. I saw this building being done up a while ago and was always curious what it was like inside. It has tiny maze-like passages (hard to find a sofa that will fit) and grand staircases. The staircases and halls are larger than the flats!
Lady Gray and her husband have opened their living room and terrace to the public. Her particular passion is baking. I was asked along to give constructive criticism and hints on her new venture. I’ve turned into an Underground Restaurant consultant! (I also gave advice this weekend to another lovely couple who are about to start a restaurant in their shed. I’ve sat people in my shed, have quite a serious shed fetish actually so am looking forward to this one. Expect a report soon…)
We started with a glass of champagne and some cheddar bay ‘biscuits’. These were ‘biscuits’ in the American vernacular (they seem to call all kinds of things biscuits over there), were in fact more like little cheesy muffins. They were light and delicious.
Then six of us sat down at a table covered with white linen and plain white porcelain china. This sober display along with Lady Gray’s husband’s black and white photographs reflected the urban city sleek surroundings. The kitchen was an alcove off the living room. At first there was a gray curtain hiding the chef’s movements from the diners.
My advice to Lady Gray is to remove the curtain and allow us to see her cook. This does take a little getting used to but I emphasised

“if people want a perfect seamless experience then they can go to a normal restaurant. Part of the charm of the home restaurant is the transparency, the fact that you can interract with the chef”.

One of the challenges of being a home restauranteur is that you are both chef and front of house. It’s hard to be in two places at once. As people are in your home, your intimate space, they want to meet you! My kitchen at The Underground Restaurant is separate from the living room. I tell diners that they are more than welcome to visit the kitchen after the main course has gone out. A kitchen where diners can see you is an advantage, so use it. If you are shy, well, frankly get over it (shyness is unacceptable in anyone over 25 in my opinion anyway). A home chef cannot be a shrinking violet.

We perused the beautifully designed menu and tea menu. There was a huge choice of teas from builders, Lapsang Suchong, fruit teas and unusually, a chocolate truffle tea.
We started with finger sandwiches. These were handed out silver service style by Lady Gray’s hubbie. There were a couple of problems with this: it was slow, the sandwich selection for non-meat eaters was scanty and finally again it removed one of the best things about home restaurants…family style eating. My advice was to put all of the sandwiches on a huge platter in the middle, marked with labels. Sharing food family style encourages bonding between diners who may be total strangers. I find that it’s best just to let my diners get on with it, I don’t hover.
Next we were served a pyramid of fruit and plain scones, still warm from the oven. They were light fudgy and delicious. Lady Gray is a supremely talented baker. They were served with clotted cream and a couple of jams.
A selection of cakes…cup cakes with fantastic butter cream icing, lemon drizzle cake, tiny chocolate brownies, shortbread, all of them light as air. There ensued a debate on fairy cakes v cupcakes. I do feel that the demise of fairy cakes is analogous to the gray squirrel pushing out the native red squirrel. Cupcakes are a larger Americanised form of fairy cake. However Lady Gray is an American so we were getting the genuine article.
We finished with home-made chocolate truffles, plain and Earl Grey flavoured, and some delicate flower tea.
It’s a brilliant idea to have a trial run before going for it and I was glad to have shared some of my ‘growing up in public’ experiences over the last six very intense months, the highs and the lows, the mistakes and the triumphs, with Lady Gray. Information here for future teas…
We then drove over to Hackney Wick to catch the last part of Angie’s ‘Fantasy pop up tea’. This was an all female affair, cooked by four women and all girl guests. Fat Les was with me and he perched nervously on the peripheries. Teas do seem to be predominately female or gay. Is tea gay? Fat Les loves a cake, isn’t gay but the poor man feels left out. Is there such a thing as a butch tea?

As you can see by the photos, Angie and Co. had a lot of fun styling the biscuits and cakes. The sitting room was quirky, vintage and shabby chic in style. I missed the savouries but the menu looked great. This tea was not open to the public but seeing two teas in one day ( I probably now need testing for diabetes) was fascinating in terms of difference of style.


I like the way you can see the motorway from Angie’s window…
Underground Restauranteurs (1) are not in competition. Everybody’s cooking style is different. Everybody’s house/china/toiletries/music taste is different. As I’ve said before, I want to visit them all…council flats, boats, sheds, chateaux, suburban semis, warehouses, modern flats, period homes….
(1)I know the proper term is restaurateur but fuck it, I think that just sounds weird. Of course the original term ‘restaurant’ was a noun for a restorative bouillon or soup for those who were poorly. So ‘restaurateur’ means that you are ‘restoring’ people to health.

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Comments

  1. The Curious Cat

    July 15, 2009 at 11:32 am

    Wow – beautiful photos! I love it! Hidden tea times is a great twist on the Underground restaurant theme – love how everyone can bring their own personality and style to the table!

    Reply
  2. ~Lady Gray

    August 3, 2009 at 8:47 am

    lovely photos Ms Marmite 🙂
    thank you for coming and for the lovely review and for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
    let me know what night i can help you out this fall and i am sure we will catch up soon
    ~lady gray xx

    ps we host teas on sundays and saturdays, so can you update the info on the side of the page to say weekends 🙂 ta x

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed t Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed the top of these toile de jouey curtains in my summer house shed. The days are lengthening a little which brightens up my mood. Self care= trying to get up and washed. Trying to leave the house once a day. Keeping my hands busy. Finding small ways to be creative. #coronaloner #sewingmachine #curtains #shedsofinstagram #sheshed #springiscoming #supperclub #stayingsane #selfcare #lockdown3
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
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#happynewyear #happynewyear2021 #supperclub #hootenanny
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