The Traveling Foodie: Warming the Pot
Hannah Hausauer demystifies British high tea.
Every nation has stereotypical culinary traditions. The French are known for their crepes and escargot, Japan for sushi and sake, while Boston serves up creamy clam chowder and lobster rolls.
The British are no different. But since I can’t seem to muster enough courage to taste the infamous Scottish specialty haggis, I went for another more refined, but still quintessentially British epicurean experience: high tea.
It’s thought that Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, founded the afternoon tea tradition in 1841. It went on to shape national policy in the form of scones, clotted cream, and black tea. By the 1860s, the fashionable custom became unstoppable – and aided the expansion of the British Empire by fueling commercialization through importation and exportation.
Today, the political and economic cachet of tea may have waned, but nevertheless, tea houses and tea rooms still dot city sidewalks and countrysides.
Situated in Morningside on the southwest side of Edinburgh, Loopy Lornas looks anything but demure.
Light blue walls with pink accents and paisley-decorations festoon the interior. Piles of cakes, cookies, and brownies immediately draw my eye to the counter. After endless debate, my friends and I finally came to a decision: a pot of Loopy’s Glorious Morning Tea and a pot of Hunny Bunny, accompanied by a tea stand overflowing with afternoon nibbles.
In true loopy fashion, all the china was mismatched and the pots were swathed in tea cozies featuring either a bunny, penguin, or even an angel with a furry pink bodice, addressing the advice that hung on signs around the room declaring, “Warming the pot is essential. One should think of it as beverage foreplay.”
A queue began to form at precisely 2 o’clock, and soon, our gregarious English waitress brought over a tower laden with delectables. Little cupcakes, mini cream-filled meringues, moist gingerbread cake, tea sammies with the crusts cut off, and warm scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream filled out groaning stomachs.
Though scones have never been at the top of my list, these were scrumptious. On a dreary Saturday morning, the warmed over and flaky-sweet scone was the ideal receptacle for a dollop of raspberry jam and luscious clotted cream so thick that it proved a challenge to scoop up.
I may not have been a fan of high tea before, but I think I’m a convert.