It will suit you to a tea
On a recent trip to Sri Lanka I visited Handunugoda Tea Estate only a few miles from Galle. Mr Gunaratne, whose family have been tea planters for 400 years, proudly showed us around.
In 2008 Sri Lanka overtook Kenya as the second most important tea producing nation after India. Annual production of Ceylon Tea, as Sri Lankan tea is called, is about 330 million kilograms and enjoys premium prices at the tea auctions in Colombo. Tea has been grown in Sri Lanka since 1869, shortly after the coffee crop was decimated by disease. The industry employs 3.5m people and is the largest foreign income earner and the largest employer.
As a cook I am always fascinated to learn how our food is grown. I’m particularly intrigued to learn about foods not grown in our climate so part of my holidays will invariably be spent learning about spices, exotic fruit, street food and wine. It’s not everyone’s idea of a fun holiday but I find it fascinating. Tea grows in altitudes between 100 and 5,000ft. The gardens I visited were at just 100ft (30 metres) and specialised in white tea camillia sevensis. The tea bushes look like a green waist-high lawn. Tea in its natural state grows in the shade so the tea gardens are punctuated by tall Ghrisidia trees which provide shade and attract birds to eat the unwanted insects. Rubber trees grow where tea doesn’t.
The brightly dressed tea pickers were already in the gardens when we arrived, all women, working at lightning speed, expertly plucking the tender leaf tips with their finger tips and flicking them into the basket strapped to their backs. The Tamil Plantation workers are contracted to pick a minimum of 20 kilograms a day and receive a bonus for any extra picked. The tea bushes are pruned to one meter in height every five weeks for ease of picking. The freshly picked leaves are first withered by blowing air through them, sometimes on hessian mats or on modern mechanical troughs. The partly dried leaves are then crushed which starts a fermentation process – the skill is to know when to stop. The technology and machinery is largely unchanged since the 19th century. The crusher at Handunugoda Tea Estate had a brass plate that read Siroco Davidson and Co Ltd Belfast Ireland. The leaves for white tea are not picked but snipped with golden scissors so they are untouched by hand. Mr Gunaratne explained that originally in China the Mandarins insisted that the leaves for white tea were snipped by virgins with gold scissors into a gold bowl. Body sweat contaminates the flavour.
The Mandarins were convinced that white tea had extra attributes. More recently their white tea has been scientifically analysed by SGS The Swiss Company and was found to have 10% to 11% more antioxidants than any other tea. In white tea the caffeine content is very low. It also boosts the body’s immune system and is an anti-carcinogenic. Virtually the entire crop is snapped up by the posh French tea house Mariage Freres. After we walked through the tea gardens, Mr Gunaratne invited us into his bungalow to taste his tea. I inadvertently got brownie points by telling him that we drink leaf and that teabags were banned from our country house hotel restaurant, café and cookery school.
He confirmed what I already knew – that teabags are the best thing that ever happened to tea companies. According to Mr Gunaratne, teabags consist of 10% excellent tea, 60% percent neutral tea and 10% dust. Then there is the paper which is 70% of the cost of the teabag and affects the taste of the tea. According to Mr Gunaratne drinking teabag tea is akin to drinking vintage wine in a paper cup.
Serves 4
2 tsp Chinese green tea
4 tbsp chopped mint, preferably spearmint
900ml (1½pints) water
Sugar, to taste
To decorate: 4 lemon slices, (optional) 4 small mint sprigs
Heat a teapot with boiling water. Add the tea and mint to the pot. Fill with boiling water. Allow to infuse and stand for five minutes.
Pour the tea through a strainer into warmed glasses or small cups. Add sugar to taste (remember, in Morocco tea is supposed to be very sweet) and decorate each glass or cup with a lemon slice, if liked, and a sprig of mint.
250ml (9fl oz) full fat milk
2-3 cardamom pods
2.5cm (1inch) piece of cinnamon
3 peppercorns
3 tsp loose tea leaves
500ml (18fl oz) boiling water
Sugar
Put all the ingredients except the tea leaves and the sugar into a saucepan. Bring slowly to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Bring back to the boil, add the tea leaves, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1-2 mins. Turn off the heat and allow the leaves to settle. Serve in tea cups.
This is a more modern version of barmbrack, now commonly called a “tea brack” because the dried fruit is soaked in tea overnight to plump it up (rather than boiled as in the recipes above).
Even though it is a very rich bread, in Ireland it is traditionally served sliced and buttered.
Yields about 12 slices (eat the crusts, too!)
110g (4oz) sultanas
110g (4oz) raisins
10g (4oz) currants
50g (2oz) natural glace cherries, halved or quartered
300ml (10fl oz) hot tea
1 organic egg, whisked
200g (7oz) soft brown sugar
225g (8oz) self-raising flour
1 level tsp mixed spice
50g (2oz) homemade candied peel (see recipe below)
450g (1lb) loaf tin – 12.5 x 20cm (5 x 8in) OR 3 small loaf tins 15 x 7.5cm (6 x 3in)
Put the dried fruit and cherries into a bowl. Cover with hot tea and leave to plump up overnight.
The following day, line the loaf tin with silicone paper.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Add the whisked egg, soft brown sugar, flour and mixed spice to the fruit and tea mixture. Stir well. Put the mixture into the lined loaf tin.
Cook in for about 1½ hours or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
Keeps very well in an airtight tin.
Fruit should be organic if possible, otherwise scrub the peel well.
5 organic unwaxed oranges
5 organic unwaxed lemons
5 organic unwaxed grapefruit (or all of one fruit)
Water
1 tsp salt
3lbs (1.35kg) sugar
Cut the fruit in half and squeeze out the juice. Reserve the juice for another use, perhaps homemade lemonade.
Put the peel into a large bowl (not aluminium), add salt and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 24 hours.
The following day throw away the soaking water, put the peel in a saucepan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently until the peel is soft, three hours approx.
Remove the peel and discard the water. Scrape out any remaining flesh and membranes from inside the cut fruit, leaving the white pith and rind intact. (You could do the next step the following day if that was more convenient).
Slice the peel into nice long strips. Alternatively cut each half in half.
Dissolve the sugar in 1¼pints (750ml) of water, bring it to the boil, add the peel and simmer gently until it looks translucent, 30–60 minutes, and the syrup forms a thread when the last drop falls off a metal spoon. Remove the peel with a slotted spoon, fill the candied peel into sterilised glass jars and pour the syrup over. Cover and store in a cold place or in a fridge. It should keep for 6-8 weeks or longer under refrigeration.
Alternatively spread on a baking tray or trays and allow to sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour to cool. Toss in caster sugar and store in covered glass jars until needed.
This ancient Arab recipe from the Middle East will change your opinion of prunes – a pretty and delicious dish.
Serves 6
450g (1 lb) Agen prunes, pitted
Same number of fresh walnut halves
150ml (¼pint) tea
300ml (½pint) cream
2 tbsp castor sugar
1 tbsp rose blossom water
Decoration: A few chopped walnuts rose petals – optional
We’ve experimented with taking out the stones from both soaked and dry prunes. Unsoaked worked best.
Use a small knife to cut out the stones and then stuff each with half a walnut.
Arrange in a single layer in a sauté pan. Cover with hot tea.
Put the lid on the pan and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add more liquid if they become a little dry. They should be plump and soft. Lift them gently onto a serving plate in a single layer and let them cool. .
Whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the castor sugar and rose blossom water. Spoon blobs over the prunes and chill well. Just before serving sprinkle with rose petals and a few chopped walnuts.
Just before serving, scatter a few chopped walnuts over each blob of cream, sprinkle with rose petals and serve well chilled.
This dessert tastes even better next day.
WILD garlic has been used in Ireland as a condiment or as part of a relish since earliest times. In the heyday of many large Irish estates it was apparently quite common to plant it on the edges of woodland and pasture. In late spring when the cattle and sheep were put out to grass after the long winter indoors, the garlic was thought to have a beneficial effect on them.
There are two types. Wild garlic (Allium ursinum), grows in shady places along the banks of streams and in undisturbed mossy woodland. Snowbells (Allium triquetrum), resemble white bluebells and usually grow along the sides of country lanes.
The season is almost over. It is delicious in salad, pasta, sauces, soups, stews and this yummy pesto.
2oz (50g) wild garlic leaves (Allium ursinum or Allium triquetrum)
1oz (25g) pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
6-8 fl ozs (170-225ml) olive oil
1½ oz (40g) freshly grated Parmesan, (Parmigiano Reggiano)
Salt and sugar to taste
Whizz the wild garlic leaves, pine kernels, garlic and olive oil in a food processor or pound in a pestle and mortar. Remove to a bowl and fold in the finely grated Parmesan cheese. Taste and season. Store in a sterilised covered jar in the fridge.
Note: Clean the top and sides of the jar each time you dip in. Cover with a layer of extra virgin olive oil and the lid of the jar.
- On a recent trip to Armagh I had a delicious dinner at Manor Park Restaurant, known as “The French Restaurant” to the locals.
Head chef James Neilly – who trained with Paul Rankin – takes classical French recipes and reinvents them using local produce. He was recently awarded Irish Best Restaurants 2010 awards, Best Restaurant for Co Armagh. 0044 (0) 28 37 515535 www.manorparkrestaurant.co.uk
- Those of you who have caught the grow-your-own bug should know about Peppermint Farm and Garden in Toughraheen near Bantry. Their plants are healthy and robust and can be purchased by mail order catalogue or direct from Bantry, Schull or Skibbereen Farmers Markets. www.peppermintfarm.com or tel: 028 31869
- Fruithill Farm in West Cork stocks a range of utensils, tools and equipment suitable for small holders and small scale production. They also have a range of organic fertilisers and organic seed potatoes. All their products are available by mail order. Contact them on 027-50710 or www.fruithillfarm.com
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