Today is August 25th and IMBB 18: Summer’s Flying, Let’s Get Frying, hosted by Linda of At Our Table takes place on August 28th. That gives me three days to finish the round-up, so it looks like I’m really going to have to pick up the pace!
Our first stop on today’s tour brings us to Heidelberg, Germany where Michelle of Oswego Tea has just arrived back from Brussels, Belgium. While she didn’t have time to make us food, she tells us about some delicious Earl Grey Cookies she had during her trip that were “subtle and light, with a lemon and butter base.” Thankfully Michelle has included a recipe for earl grey cookies to let us make and taste them ourselves.
Still in Germany, we visit Petra of Chili und Ciabatta who recently received a parcel containing a package of Yerba Mate from her daughter in Uruguay. Yerba Mate is used for preparing Mate, the national drink of Uruguay. In wonderful detail, Petra guides us through the process of preparing Mate, from selecting the gourd (container) to make it, to proper Mate drinking etiquette. Fascinating.
Next, it’s off to New York where we visit Kim of Walker New York Eats to indulge in Chilly Tea Sandwiches. In an experimental mood, Kim infuses her Wittard Afternoon tea blend into Alton Brown’s ice cream recipe, then sandwiches the ice cream between two shortbread cookies. The result is an elegant and delicious ice cream sandwich, perfect for the hot summer weather.
Back across the pond in southern England, the poetic Martin Gaston of Confessions of a Serial Griller faces a dilemma. He doesn’t like tea, but wants to take part in IMBB. In his own words “My hands were trembling, my lips were dry and I was considering just giving up on the whole thing. Just thinking about it left me physically drained and emotionally vulnerable.” But thankfully he came through in the end with two delicious tasteTea creations. He first presents us with an elegant Cream Tea, a dish consisting of scones and tea originally made by Devonshire monks in the tenth century. Thinking that his dish may not really qualify as ‘cooking with tea’, he’s also made Chocolate Tea Truffle Doughnuts, delectable chocolate-tea truffles wrapped in dough before being fried golden.
In New York, Zinnur of Our Patisserie has prepared a magnificent Matcha and Chocolate Cake. The combination of matcha-hot milk sponge cake, matcha cream, pistachios, and chocolate cream and glaze, looks and sounds divine. Matcha and chocolate is one of my favourite combinations, so this is definitely something that I’d like to try.
Criss-crossing the Atlantic and racking up air miles, we visit Petra of FoodFreak in Hamburg, Germany who’s preparing a fabulous dinner of Prawns with Green Jasmine Tea and Almonds. A very vibrant and delicious-looking dish, I can imagine how nice the aroma of the green jasmine tea must be after being fried.
Next we travel to San Francisco to visit one of the world’s pre-eminent food bloggers, head mistress of Food Blog S’cool, and host of IMBB #19 in September. Of course I’m referring to Sam of Becks & Posh, who was most happy to share her pictures and ponderances about tea for this month’s IMBB. She talks about her favourite tea memories, tea caddies, teapots, and teas. In her own words, “Tea is my addiction. It is probably the only thing I consume every day of my life.”
Homesick as I am, we finally make our way back to Canada to visit Templar of Food Ninja in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Today he’s made a very nice looking Barm Brack, a traditional Irish fruit bread that contains a cup of Adagio’s Earl Grey Tea. From the combination of raisins, currents, tea, and mixed peel in the ingredients list, this bread certainly sounds delicious!
Travelling south to New England, we visit Jennifer of The Spice Must Flow. Her passion for tea is obvious from her travels to tea rooms around the world, and today we’re fortunate that she’s decided to make a beautiful dish of Jasmine Tea Risotto with Sweet Peas and Shrimp. In addition to the chicken broth and wine that’s normally used to cook risotto, she’s added some freshly brewed jasmine green tea to the mix. The result is a most refreshing and delicious dish.
Before we take a break, we stop by to see Sophie of Soul Fusion Kitchen in Los Angeles for a cool and thirst quenching glass of Iced Tea. Her unique version of this refreshing drink is a combination of sun-brewed tea and freshly squeezed lemonade. And of course, to truly make it taste like Southern Iced Tea, she adds sweetness by way of a simple syrup.
Stay tuned for more soon (really!)
Hi Clement,
You're doing a great job! Keep it up, I think you're almost done right?
Posted by: Reid | August 27, 2005 at 07:33 AM