For this week’s British Pantry, we’re paying due respect to Marmite. ‘You either love it or you hate it’, apparently. We bloody love it!! Here’s Nicky with a fantastic piece of Marmite pop art – and below we’ve picked our top five limited edition products featuring the deliciously gooey black stuff.
Tea & Sympathy’s Top 5: Limited Edition Marmite Products
5. Royal Marmite
We’ve featured this one before. Produced especially for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee earlier this year.
4. Marmite Love
With Champagne!
3. Marmite Vaseline
If you ever wanted a kiss from us, here’s your secret weapon!!
2. Marmite Absinthe
This would have been top spot, but unfortunately it’s just a joke!
1. Guinness Marmite
Two of our all time favorite flavors. In one jar. Heaven!
As the Queen disembarks from her 1,000-boat flotilla trip down the River Thames, our sources on the ground say that most Brits are spending the long weekend doing what they do best: packing out the pubs. Whether you’re enjoying a pint of Jubilee Ale, serving up our coronation chicken finger sandwiches, or entirely indifferent, we’d like to wish you all a happy Diamond Jubilee. Digging through our filing cabinets recently, Nicky found this original brochure from the Queen’s Coronation back in 1953. How it ended up in our hands is long forgotten, but we felt it was perfect to share with you on this very special weekend.
It is finally upon us! This weekend is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: a celebration of Elizabeth II’s 60th year on the throne that will go down in British history. We’ve put together a recommended menu to help you commemorate the event in truly regal style.
Feel free to give us a call (212-989-9735) if you’re planning a party and are looking for supplies – we have everything you need for an authentic British knees-up!
Coronation Chicken Finger Sandwiches
The perfect savory to serve at your party. Easy to make, easy to eat, and invented for the Queen’s coronation. A lightly spiced creamy chicken, coronation chicken hints at the Raj while finger sandwiches evoke a dainty English civility. Most importantly, these little morsels are utterly delicious.
Ingredients:
Makes about 10 sandwiches
Good quality, thinly sliced bread of your preference Coronation chicken
Very thinly sliced peeled cucumber, tomato or lettuce (optional)
Salt and Pepper
Choose a selection of good-quality, thinly sliced white, wholewheat and seven-grain breads.
Peel the dark green skin from the outside of the cucumber with a vegetable peeler if using.
Spread a good amount of coronation chicken on to the bread, and add cucumber, lettuce or tomato if using. Season to taste
Top with a plain slice.
With a sharp knife, cut the crusts off of the bread and discard. Cut the sandwich diagonally into triangles or finger shapes.
Serve garnished with a sprig of fresh watercress.
Victoria Sponge
Named after the last monarch to spend 60 years on the throne. Queen Victoria favored a slice of sponge cake with her afternoon tea, and this is an especially decadent version: two layers filled with cream and jam and topped with confectioners’ sugar.
Serves 8-10 Preparation Time: 35-40 minutes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
A few drops of pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350F
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time , along with the vanilla.
With a spatula, fold in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
Divide the batter between 2 buttered and floured 8-inch cake tins and smooth the surface by tapping gently on the side of the tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
As with all cakes, the best way to make sure the cake is done is by inserting a thin knife or skewer into the center of the cake: if it comes out clean, then the cake is done. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
Royal Chocolate Biscuit Cake
We originally featured this cake during last year’s Royal wedding. William selected this childhood favorite as his groom’s cake. According to royal chef Darren McGrady, it is also one of the Queen’s top picks. Daily Candy stopped by to film Nicky preparing the cake. As you can see, it’s extremely simple and my-oh-my is it yummy!
There are more recipe ideas here. Please send us pictures if you do have a party – and we hope you have a fantastic Jubilee weekend!
After we posted about the fabulously funny rebranding of Marmite for the Queen’s Jubilee, the lovely people at DDB (the advertising agency in London behind the project) emailed us this special edition poster. Two words: Bloody hilarious!
Coronation chicken is the only recipe to share with you this week. We’ve been talking about sandwiches for the last few days and the Queen’s Jubilee is just a week away now. This dish was invented by chef Rosemary Hume to serve at the Queen’s coronation in 1953. It’s a firm favorite in the restaurant and while we strongly recommend you have it as a sandwich, it’s also a great accompaniment for a salad.
Coronation Chicken
Serves 6-8
Preparation Time: 2 1/2 hours
2- to 4-lb whole chicken
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup curry powder
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup red wine
1 bay leaf
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 cans of apricot halves, drained of their juice
1/4 cup mango chutney
Salt and pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
Roast the chicken in a preheated 350F oven for 1 1/2-2 hours. Cover with foil so the chicken doesn’t dry out, and make sure the pan has been oiled.
Over medium heat, saute the onion in the butter. Add the curry powder, tomato puree, red wine, bay leaf, lemon juice, apricots and chutney and simmer until reduced to quite a thick consistency.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
Cool down then stir in the mayonnaise.
Skin, bone, and chop the chicken. Cool and add to the mayonnaise mixture.
Make more spicy if you wish. Divine in sandwiches!
Tatler have given a sneak peak inside their Jubilee edition, out next week. We have something very big up our sleeves (you wouldn’t expect it any other way now would you?) But for the time being it’s still #TSWeddingWeek. If you haven’t done so already, take the time to enter our pinterest contest and you could win full afternoon tea for two (that’s $70-worth of the finest English food this side of the Atlantic!!)
Tea & Sympathy 