Tea in Ireland!

For Saint Patrick's Day we shall explore the Irish and their tea traditions. Most everyone has heard of "Irish Breakfast" Tea and probably have had a cuppa or two. Irish Breakfast is a marketer's name, not an acutal type of tea. It is a robust and brisk blend mainly consisting of Assam and other India teas. An Irish company, McGrath's, carries "Original Irish Blend." They describe it as "a blend of fine Indian, African, and Indonesian teas." Irish Breakfast tea (and the other so named "breakfast" teas) is a perfect foil for milk. Milk added to an Irish Breakfast brings out a malty flavor and if one was to peer into a cup of tea prepared in this manner one would swear it was coffee.

The Irish are also know for creating a lovely porcelain called "Belleek." The village's Gaelic name, "beal leice," translates to "Flagstone Ford." John Caldwell Bloomfield inheirited the Castlecaldwell from his father in 1849. This was right after the potato famine and Bloomfield was mindful of the plight of his tennants. An amateur mineralologist, he had a geologoical survey perfromed on his land. Much to his delight, the survey revealed a wealth of "ingredients" to make pottery. Feldspar, kaolin, flint, clay, and shale were found in abundant quantities. The pieces created by Belleek Pottery are one of a kind, with each piece being hand-painted. John Caldwell Bloomfield insisted that any piece of Belleek that was not 100% perfect be destroyed. The company still adheres to this strict policy of perfection in every piece.

No tea table is complete without a linen tablecloth, doilies and dainty napkins. The Irish are also know for their exceptional linen. According to Jane Pettigrew, " Irish linen dates back almost as far as tea in China. It is thought that the manufacture of linen travelled to the northern parts of Ireland with the early Christians. The most important period in linen's development came in the seventeenth centruy, when persecuted Huguenots from France settled in Ireland and offered their skills and expertise." Irish linen will be marked with Irish Linen Guild's tradmark which can only be applied to linen made entirely in Ireland.

An Irish tea menu would be very similar to any traditional afternoon tea menu. Dainty open-faced cucumber sandwiches would be in keeping with the color green associated with St. Patrick's Day. For a lovely addition, Irish Soda Bread Scones could be served with clotted cream. Of course, the ultimate tea table would be laid with Irish linen, Belleek China, and a pot of strong Irish Breakfast tea.

Irish Soda Bread Scones (A Year of Teas at the Elmwood Inn)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon each salt and baking soda

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon caraway seed

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1/2 cup each choppped walnuts and golden raisins

1 Tablespoon each cream and sugar

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, brown sugar and caraway seeds. Cut in the butter pieces until the mixture is crumbly. Add in raisins and nuts. Whisk buttermilk and egg together, then add to flour mixture. Mix together until a soft ball of dough forms. Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead lightly, 5 or 6 times. Roll out to 1/2" thickness and cut with a floured biscuit cutter. Place on a large baking sheet, lightly greased. Brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown in a preheated 400 degree oven.

Sources:

Design for Tea: Teawares from the Dragon Court to Afternoon Tea, Jane Pettigrew, Sutton Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7509-3283-X

Tea Lover's Treasury, James Norwood Pratt, Cole Group, Inc., 1982, ISBN 1-56426-565-X

A Year of Teas at the Elmwood Inn, Bruce and Shelley Richardson, 1994, ISBN1-884532-03-9

Belleek Pottery: http://www.belleek.ie/