Tracy Gilbert Stern - Tea Party: 20 Themed Tea Parties with Recipes for Every Occasion, from Fabulous Showers to Intimate Gatherings

Copyright 2007 by Tracy Stern
Photographs copyright 2007 by Ben Fink

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson
Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing
Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com

Clarkson N. Potter is a trademark and Potter and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stern, Tracy (Tracy Gilbert)
Tea Party : 20 themed tea parties with recipes for every occasion, from fabulous showers to intimate gatherings / Tracy Stern with Christie Matheson. 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Afternoon teas. 2. Cookery. I. Matheson, Christie. II. Title.
TX736.S75 2007
641.536dc22 2006015270

ISBN 978-0-307-34643-8

eISBN: 978-0-307-49169-5

v3.1

Simply having a cup of tea is a beautiful ritual. Unlike other beverages, tea requires a little time to prepare; you need to give it a few moments to steepto let the flavor of the tea infuse the steaming water as the delicate aroma seeps gently into the air around you and the water takes on a beautiful, glowing color. Its a delight for all the senses!

Tea has a long history of being associated with the finer things. For centuries, in many cultures, it was a cherished (and expensive) treat available only to the upper echelon of society, who would savor every sip and serve it in their best cups. These days its much more affordable, but vestiges of extravagant associations remain. When someone invites you to join her for tea, dont you feel a little more special than you would if shed asked you to grab a cup of coffee? Having tea with a friend means you want to spend time with her and relish her company; taking the time to make tea when youre alone means youre treating yourself to something that will stimulate your senses and warm you from the inside out; and planning a tea partywhether its a simple afternoon tea or a more elaborate themed partymeans the ritual of preparing tea will be involved with the event, and that you will be serving your guests a beverage steeped in tradition.

Luckily, though making tea requires just a little extra effort, its not difficult or prohibitively time-consuming. That means it can and should be a wonderful part of everyday life. And when you celebrate with tea, you can make an occasion special, and make anyone feel like an honored guest any time. You dont need to be a master chef or spend hours in the kitchen to prepare for it. A good tea party should be about enjoying the company of your friends and finding something to celebrate whenever you can.

tea traditions

Tea has been a part of cultures all over the world for hundredsin some cases, thousandsof years.

CHINA: Legend has it that the Chinese emperor Shen Nung was the first to drink a cup of tea, more than five thousand years ago, when dried leaves from a bush fell into water that his servants were boiling at his request. And thus teas earliest origins may indeed have had regal attachments. Whether or not the tale is true, tea in China has always been a symbol of status, is often used as part of religious rituals, and has long been celebrated for its medicinal properties.

JAPAN: In the ninth century, a Buddhist priest brought tea from China to Japan and introduced it to the emperor, who enjoyed it so much he began importing seeds for tea plants from China and having them grown in his own country. Over the next several centuries, Buddhists began developing a ceremony around the consumption of tea, and eventually the tea ceremonyritualistic and almost Zen-likebecame a calming element of government meetings and negotiations. In the eighteenth century, a new and practical means of producing green tea was developed, and the drink became more readily available to the masses; in the nineteenth century, that process was automated and green tea became even more widely available. Green tea remains one of Japans beverage staples today.

ENGLAND: There are many theories about when tea first came to Europe, but some believe Portuguese explorers discovered it in Japan in the sixteenth century and brought it home. Then Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess who married Englands Charles II, introduced tea to her new home country in the seventeenth century. Teas popularity exploded in Britain in the nineteenth century, when the British Empire included India, where the climate allows for the growth of tea. The high cost of importation meant that tea was a huge luxury in England, and those who could afford it kept it locked away in a beautiful teapoy, or wooden box. However, as India started to produce more tea, costs came down and tea became more accessible. The general British populace was delighted to have access to this former delicacy, drinking it many times throughout the day. The ritual of tea was harbored at Britains many tearooms, which were extremely popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and where tea was served with scones, jam, and clotted cream.

FRANCE: The French began drinking tea even earlier than the British (France and Holland were among the first European countries to import tea regularly), and though tea is not omnipresent in France as it is in England, the French have a history as some of the most adventurous tea drinkers. In France there are a wide variety of popular teas, and exotic tea blends are in high demand. The concept of tea salons originated in France, where artists and writers would come together with their society patrons to sip tea and eat pastries. Drinking tea became quite chic, and soon grand hotels began offering elegant afternoon teas, too.

INDIA: Teas history in India is shorter than elsewhere in the worldthe tea industry in India developed in the nineteenth century to meet the British demand for tea, so England wouldnt have to rely on trade with China to get its tea. (The first tea in India was planted in the region of Darjeeling, in northern India.) Today India produces more tea than any other country. Many of the early tea growers in India became wealthy, meaning tea has come to be associated with high society there, as in many parts of the world. In India, offering visitors alcoholic beverages is not the customguests are served tea. The majority of the tea produced there is black tea, which is often consumed as chai: tea blended with spices and served with milk.

RUSSIA: The Chinese brought tea to Russia in the seventeenth century, when representatives from the Chinese embassy in Moscow brought chests of Chinese tea to Czar Alexis as a gift. Russia soon established a tea trade with China, but the cost of bringing tea such a great distance was high, and tea was at first available only to royalty and the wealthiest members of society. Tea in Russia is traditionally served in a regal-looking samovar, a combination of water heater and teapot, and poured into glasses held in metallic podstakanniki, or tea-glass holders.