Can you tell which one is the real one? Ok, real as in produced in the L&P factory in the city of Worcester, in the county of Worcestershire, in the country of England. Why do I care? Well, I grew up in Worcestershire, about 8 miles from the factory, in a small town called Great Malvern. Since moving here, I have bought L&P sauce from Wholefoods...but....it just isn't the same.
Anyway, one of the bottles is from Wholefoods (produced in the USA) and the other is the one mailed to me from England.
Growing up we used it for
1. grilled cheese on toast -toast your slice of bread, cover it with cheese and grill it until it melts -then a few drops of the sauce on top. A fancy name for it is Welsh Rarebit.
2. adding some zing to a marinade.
To be honest that is all I can think of. It seemed to be like Marmite -a bottle lasted a veeeeeeeeeery long time.
The sauce was one of the goodies in the box from D.
Also in the box were several boxes of the best Earl Grey teabags ever..and I don't say that lightly. I love tea, especially Earl Grey and it seems the market is flooded with weakly scented EG that needs to steep for way too long -to the point the water is losing its heat.
This brand -Williamson Teas, available from Waitrose- is loaded with flavour. If you're not keen on floral or scented teas, best avoid this one. My mother calls EG "perfumed water". On opening the packing box I could already smell the tea -even though D meticulously packaged every box in individual sealed ziplocks. I have never seen teabags packed with such love. D and her ziplock bag "thing" is best saved for another day though.
I drink my tea the British way -with milk and sugar. I know maybe 3 people who drink their tea black with lemon or honey, and all of them are non-Brits. No offence -but I am trying to debunk the myth about how the British drink tea. To destroy any other illusions about us being oh so sophisticated and reveal us for the farmers we really are, we usually drink tea out of a mug. I am somewhat anally-retentive about the thickness of china and like my tea-cups but they're packed away somewhere, so nowadays more often than not I too use a mug*.
*Much to G's disgust. He is morally and aesthetically offended when I appear with mug in hand.
How to prepare tea the British way using a teapot:
1. Rinse/swirl inside of teapot with boiling water -this is to keep the china warm and stop the tea cooling so quickly.
2. Pop in teabags or loose tea leaves. For teabags -the rule of thumb is 1 per person plus 1 "for the pot". For leaves, 1 teaspoon per person, plus 1 for the pot.
3. Leave for 2 minutes. Pour into cup. With loose leaves, don't forget the strainer!
4. You can either put your milk in first, or add the milk after the tea. I do milk first then add tea. God knows why. I think it's because I like my tea thicker rather than thin. If you know what I mean by that, gold star. If you don't go, to the corner and face the wall. Sorry, all this talk of tea made me think I was back in boarding school.
If you're not trying to impress a teacher, boss, parent or just don't own a teapot because you think they're ridiculous:
1. Take cup or mug
2. Put teabag inside (seriously now, if you don't own a teapot, you probably don't own loose tea either).
3. Pour on boiling water.
4. Squish teabag around with teaspoon.
5. Remove teabag and add milk/sugar/whisky.
6. Imbibe. Preferably with a biscuit**.
**A biscuit in England is not a scone or a piece of bread, it is not in the faintest bit savoury in nature -it's a cookie but not a cookie-cookie. Pfff, whatever.
One thing about teapots -don't wash them with soap or put them in the dishwasher. Rinse them thoroughly with very hot water and then dry them by hand. This is one of those things my mother or a teacher taught me years ago -if anyone can remind me why I would appreciate it! Not why they taught me, rather why one shouldn't wash-wash a teapot....
Can you tell which one is the real one? Ok, real as in produced in the L&P factory in the city of Worcester, in the county of Worcestershire, in the country of England. Why do I care? Well, I grew up in Worcestershire, about 8 miles from the factory, in a small town called Great Malvern. Since moving here, I have bought L&P sauce from Wholefoods...but....it just isn't the same.
Anyway, one of the bottles is from Wholefoods (produced in the USA) and the other is the one mailed to me from England.
Growing up we used it for
1. grilled cheese on toast -toast your slice of bread, cover it with cheese and grill it until it melts -then a few drops of the sauce on top. A fancy name for it is Welsh Rarebit.
2. adding some zing to a marinade.
To be honest that is all I can think of. It seemed to be like Marmite -a bottle lasted a veeeeeeeeeery long time.
The sauce was one of the goodies in the box from D.
Also in the box were several boxes of the best Earl Grey teabags ever..and I don't say that lightly. I love tea, especially Earl Grey and it seems the market is flooded with weakly scented EG that needs to steep for way too long -to the point the water is losing its heat.
This brand -Williamson Teas, available from Waitrose- is loaded with flavour. If you're not keen on floral or scented teas, best avoid this one. My mother calls EG "perfumed water". On opening the packing box I could already smell the tea -even though D meticulously packaged every box in individual sealed ziplocks. I have never seen teabags packed with such love. D and her ziplock bag "thing" is best saved for another day though.
I drink my tea the British way -with milk and sugar. I know maybe 3 people who drink their tea black with lemon or honey, and all of them are non-Brits. No offence -but I am trying to debunk the myth about how the British drink tea. To destroy any other illusions about us being oh so sophisticated and reveal us for the farmers we really are, we usually drink tea out of a mug. I am somewhat anally-retentive about the thickness of china and like my tea-cups but they're packed away somewhere, so nowadays more often than not I too use a mug*.
*Much to G's disgust. He is morally and aesthetically offended when I appear with mug in hand.
How to prepare tea the British way using a teapot:
1. Rinse/swirl inside of teapot with boiling water -this is to keep the china warm and stop the tea cooling so quickly.
2. Pop in teabags or loose tea leaves. For teabags -the rule of thumb is 1 per person plus 1 "for the pot". For leaves, 1 teaspoon per person, plus 1 for the pot.
3. Leave for 2 minutes. Pour into cup. With loose leaves, don't forget the strainer!
4. You can either put your milk in first, or add the milk after the tea. I do milk first then add tea. God knows why. I think it's because I like my tea thicker rather than thin. If you know what I mean by that, gold star. If you don't go, to the corner and face the wall. Sorry, all this talk of tea made me think I was back in boarding school.
If you're not trying to impress a teacher, boss, parent or just don't own a teapot because you think they're ridiculous:
1. Take cup or mug
2. Put teabag inside (seriously now, if you don't own a teapot, you probably don't own loose tea either).
3. Pour on boiling water.
4. Squish teabag around with teaspoon.
5. Remove teabag and add milk/sugar/whisky.
6. Imbibe. Preferably with a biscuit**.
**A biscuit in England is not a scone or a piece of bread, it is not in the faintest bit savoury in nature -it's a cookie but not a cookie-cookie. Pfff, whatever.
One thing about teapots -don't wash them with soap or put them in the dishwasher. Rinse them thoroughly with very hot water and then dry them by hand. This is one of those things my mother or a teacher taught me years ago -if anyone can remind me why I would appreciate it! Not why they taught me, rather why one shouldn't wash-wash a teapot....
