Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
Jim Lawrence |
Dear Nicey
Reading Ms. Stoddart's posting on the tea-drinking habits of Damon Albarn set me to thinking. In the light of the recent survey promulgating the disturbing fact that this nation of ours now harbours more coffee drinkers than tea drinkers (I forget the percentages involved but the former are now much in the ascendant), I have come up with this idea. How about soliciting interviews with celebrities and influential figures such as politicians, writers, etc. who are known for their love of tea. I believe that people such as the aforementioned Mr. Albarn are very popular amongst our younger citizenry, being seen as "hep" and "cool" and "gear". The persuasive powers of such individuals could turn the tide against this distressing trend which, in my considered opinion, constitutes nothing less than a threat to the very fabric of our society. If the body politic is to be saved from a rising tide of coffee swilling, inducing a confusion of social identity and postmodern value relativism, then all tea lovers must act soon! May I suggest beginning with an interview with Mr. Tony Benn, who famously takes a thermos full of piping hot cha with him wherever he goes? I feel sure that our older, more serious Britons would rediscover the joys of tea drinking once exposed to the views and tea experiences of such sober persons.
I am not anti-coffee, by the way. I occasionally indulge in a mugful when I need stimulation during the night and have even been known to patronise such establishments as Starbucks. But a Britain without tea is unthinkable!
On the vexed subject of milk in combination with tea, if you employ the convenience-method of teabag-in-mug, then you simply must introduce the tea before the milk and let it brew to taste, being careful to remove the bag before pouring the milk. If you use the traditional pot-method, either with bags or leaves, then it avoids the necessity of stirring the cupful of golden-brown ambrosia if you introduce the milk first. The experienced tea quaffer will pour the correct quantity by instinct, and the volume of tea, thanks to gravity and the teleological effects of fluid-mechanics, will automatically mix when it hits the small reservoir of milk.
Yours thirstily, Jim Lawrence, Southampton. |
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Laurie
Fazer Fasu Pala Review |
Dear Mr Nicey,
I visited a friend in Finland in January this year, and brought back a couple of packs of Fazer chocolate wafer biscuits - one pack was mint, the other was coffee truffle. Both were excellent. One could say that Fazer is the 'Cadbury of Finland' - although in my opinion Fazer chocolate tastes better than Cadbury's on the whole - and its chocolate bars are also very good to have together with tea. |
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Brian Barratt |
Esteemed Mr Nicey,
The debate continues, I see. Milk first or milk added afterwards? Oh dear me, I shall have to extend my worldwide campaign to teach the masses not to ruin a good cup of tea by adding milk before or after.
Fine tea is like fine wine. We don't add milk to wine, so why ruin a full bodied Ceylon, a potent Scottish Breakfast, a subtle Assam, a heavenly Darjeeling, by polluting it with an unrelated substance such as milk?
Cows don't wander round the tea plantations of Sri Lanka or northern India, do they? Well then.
OK, if it's a Tetley teabag, you need something to make it drinkable, but not, please not, with fine teas!
I remain
Ever you 'umble
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Desiree Thorpe-Fairall |
Hello again,
Just thought I would put a stop to all this 'hooha' about whether the milk goes in first or last.
It has nothing to do with solidifying milk proteins, or many of the other theories abounding on the subject, but is down to pure and simple 'snobbery'! and the 'upstairs/downstairs' culture.
Quite simply them 'upstairs' drank their tea from bone-china or porcelain cups, these could withstand heat, thus the hot tea could be poured directly into the cups and milk or lemon [another reason not to add the milk first come to think of it] was added.
However, them 'downstairs' only had 'pot' mugs and cups to drink from, these could not withstand the hot tea being poured directly into them, [cos the would break] thus the milk was added first to lower the temperature of the tea. [also them downstairs rarely drank their tea with lemon]
Thus posh people take tea with milk added, and plebs with milk first.
There is the added argument that adding the milk last makes it easier to control the level of milkiness of the tea. Nothing worse than meek and whilky tea.
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Nicey replies: Hmmm I'm not sure about all that broken crockery.
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Carolyn Bailey |
Dear Nicey
just to add on the bickie peg discussion , you can still buy bickie pegs today (of which I have a packet in my cupboard ), they have been going since 1925 and were desgined for teething babies to strengthen the jaws and sooth emerging teeth presumably in preparation for a lifetime of chomping biscuits . I gave them to my daughter and although she is only 2 has already developed a preference for bourbons and digestives depending on mood. Even at her tender age she splits the bourbon and licks the cream before eating the whole thing in two parts . This is not something I do but is obviously is instinctive and adds to entertainment value. She is a dunker of digestives however and I do admit she has learnt that skill from mummy.
Also any tips on how to keep fig rolls and the sponge in jaffa cakes fresh ?
ps anyone remember those really huge biscuits from the 70s that were like a large milk digestive the cholcolate was heavily ridged and was very sweet . It was of wagon wheel dimensions??? |
Nicey replies: Yes we thought you could still get Bickie Pegs. As for keeping fig rolls and Jaffa cakes fresh we simply don't have that problem, as they all get scoffed so quickly. Other than that I would suggest a very small air tight tin. |
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