Tea is on everyone's minds these days: new and innovative blends, engaging teapot shows and tea tours, plus armchair travels with tea through the pages of many new books on the shelves.
If a grand tea tour of England intrigues you, and you'd like to experience tea as ritual, etiquette, and history, consider the fully-escorted tour conducted by Moraga Travel of California. The agency has several tours planned, the first spends September 17 to 27th in England covering historical and contemporary tea highlights form teapot museums to afternoon tea in mansions and pleasant stops in between. Several other tours scheduled for early 1998. For details, call (510) 376-2700.
Beginning September 19, 1997 and running through February 2, 1998, is an ambitious series of events, exhibitions, and classes on teapots produced by the Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles. "Tantalizing Teapots: The Felicitous Union of Form and Content" will include contemporary and pop culture production teapots selected from more than 3,500 teapots and tea sets of the international collection developed by Gloria and Sonny Kamm of Southern California.
Approximately 100 teapots will be on display from wire teapots to a Shirley Temple plastic tea set to satirical renderings of British royalty. Fanciful teapots of animals, witches, golf balls, and oil cans are included plus companion pieces like tea caddies, a children's metal tea set and other humorous and serious tea items. A teapot book by artist Peter Shire and an ink drawing of a teapot by artist David Hockney are highlighted in the show.
Related 1997 programming includes lectures, hands-on craft sessions for adults and children and the teapot exhibit is on-going. Among programs already scheduled are "the Healing Power of Tea," on Thursdays, September 25 and November 13, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.; traditional Japanese tea ceremonies (cha-no-yu) on Thursdays, October 23 and December 11 from 7 to 9 p.m.; FIMO Fun with artist Helen Schram gives adults an opportunity to make teapot and teacups shaped jewelry and accessories with FIMO, a non-fired clay. This session is Thursdays, October 9 and December 18 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Noted ceramics scholar, Elaine Levin, will discuss the many forms and manifestations of the teapot as art project on Thursday, December 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. Both children and adults can paint their own teacups with saucers or teapots during "Color Me Mine," slated for Saturday, November 15 from 1 to 3 p.m. Children ages six and up are welcome.
Many other tea-related events will be offered both free and at a nominal fee ($10-15). To make reservations, or for more information, please call (213) 937-5544. The Craft and Folk Art Museum and Shop are located at 5814 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, and are open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the exhibit and may be open other hours for special programming. Free parking is located directly behind the museum on Curson Avenue.
If armchair traveling is your cup of tea, come along on a journey 'round the world in this latest mini-encyclopedia of tea.
The Tea Companion, A Connoisseur's Guide by Jane Pettigrew with the participation of Mariage Freres, Paris, has a truly unique "Global Tea Directory" that worth the cost of the book alone. The Directory covers the majority of tea producing countries, plus a map, photos of the tea plantations, and, most importantly, wonderful photos of the leaves in dry form and the infused liquor in the cup.
(Much of the tea was provided by Mariage Freres, the oldest French tea house, established in Paris in 1854, and Devan Shah of Chado Tea Room of Los Angeles which also sells Mariage Freres teas.)
The other wonderful feature of the Directory is the listing of characteristics of each tea, brewing hints, and suggested drinking recommendations such as drink in the morning, afternoon or evening, or drink with or without milk. The Directory not only includes the premier growing regions of India, China, Sri Lanka and Japan, but lesser known countries as Burundi, Ecuador, Azerbaijan and Malaysia.
The front of the book is a gently rehash of tea's history plus some great descriptions of classic teas with equally informative photos. A valuable addition to the tea lover's library. A Quintet Book distributed by Macmillan, A Simon & Schuster Macmillan Company, 192 pages, hardcover, $22.00. Available through Amazon.com
If you're looking for ways to vary your afternoon tea parties with more exciting presentations or unique themes, consider one of these two books; the first is ideal for children, the second for adults.
Taking Tea with Alice, Looking-Glass Tea Parties and Fanciful Victorian Teas is a delightful pink confection of a book to help you introduce English-style afternoon tea to youngsters in your life. Authors Dawne Hylton Gottlieb and Diane Sedo give homage to the master storyteller, Lewis Carroll with a short essay by experts on the author, Edward Wakeling and Anne Clark Armor, followed by a lovely profile on the "real-life" Alice, Mrs. Alice Plesance Liddell, whose own favorite orange marmalade recipe, written in the 1800's, was given to the authors by Mary Jean St. Clair, her granddaughter. We offer it forthwith:
Take one dozen Seville oranges and put them into a large pan of water. Boil them gently two or three hours in two waters until quite tender. Drain them. Take out the pips only, and slice the fruit very fine. Boil well for half an hour with two pounds of loaf sugar and a half pint of fresh water to every pound of fruit. The first boiling may be done the day previously. If the marmalade is preferred bitter, the water that the oranges were first boiled in can be used instead of fresh water, but fresh water was always what was used for grandmama's marmalade, which was what she liked! One dozen oranges will make eight common 12-ounce jars of marmalade.
The book has six fully-realized children's teas, including several Alice in Wonderland teas with recipes any child over six could help prepare. Delightfully staged, four-colored photos of children at tea; lots of amusing quotes; fascinating 19th century games and activities for children to play, and some pretty darn good recipes round out the book. This is a fun book for children of all ages, although none of the teas are "true teas" but generally herbals or children's "drinks." Warner Treasures published by Warner Books, A Time Warner Company, 75 pages, hardcover, $16.95. Available through Amazon.com
A Tea for all Seasons, Celebrating Tea, At and Music at the Elmwood Inn reflects the talents of chef and photographer, respectively, of authors Shelley and Bruce Richardson.
Segmented by seasons, the book features dramatic paintings of Irina Ilina, and striking four-color photos for the fully-set tea tables and many of the recipes. The Richardsons have even added suggested CDs for each tea meal to add just the right musical mood to each theme. Teas shown from Harney & Sons, Laskos of Massachusetts and the Elmwood Inn were chosen for the way they coordinate with each of the meals designed by the authors. This is an unusual and intriguing strategy to create English-style afternoon teas that are entertaining and memorable. Crescent Hill Books, 116 pages, hardcover, $19.95. Available through Amazon.com
Diana Rosen is a freelance writer for eZines, web site copy, and print magazine articles on food, beverage, and other lifestyle topics. The veteran journalist is also the author of 10 nonfiction books and the co-author of three others. For more information, visit www.dianarosen.com
