The
Great Cream Tea Controversy
Despite
providing a seemingly never ending stream of internationally famous
TV cooks, rightly or wrongly, food is not the first thing that
comes to mind when thinking about Britain. If pushed most
foreigners firstly mention fish & chips then
maybe roast beef. Some, after some thought, may add
“....and cream teas”.
A
week or so ago three of us were trudging across the wide sandy beach to St. Michaels Mount in Cornwall. Instead of taking the stairs leading up to the monastry we headed straight for the refreshments. Although I don't have much of a
sweet tooth I decided to do the tourist thing and go for a
traditional cream tea. I should have known better!
Cream teas consist of scones (small cup-cake/muffin sized breads),
clotted-cream (indirectly heated and slowly cooled cream from fresh
full-cream cows milk) and strawberry jam
Although
you can find cream teas all over the British Isles they are generally
associated with the counties of Devon and Cornwall in the
south-western tip of the British Isles.
But
beware, the humble cream tea although disguised as a pleasant
afternoon snack is the cause of many heated discussions and bitter
arguments all of which pretty much start the same way. “How do YOU
pronounce scone”? Do you rhyme scone with stone, cone or telephone
or with gone? This debate has been going on for what seems like
forever and will continue despite a recent survey, yes there was a
serious survey on the subject, indicating that 51% of the respondents
preferred the 'gone' variation.
However
this is just the prelude. It's when it comes to how
the
scones should be consumed that things get really sticky!
Should the jam be put on first and then the cream (The Cornish
Method) or the cream first and the jam on top (The Devon Method)? At
this point lines are drawn, positions are taken and vigorously
defended. Even mentioning the wrong method in the wrong county will
cause voices to be raised in anger and disbelief! If you actually
topped your scones incorrectly I think there would be street riots,
deportations and/or lynchings.
I've
heard these discussions frequently, in fact, every time I've made the
mistake of ordering a cream tea. This time I decided to risk my
nephew's disapproving comments, the angry stares of strangers and
the chance of being burnt as a witch. I thought I'd do my own little bit of research!
Aim:
To find out what all the fuss is about.
Method:
I took my two scones and sliced them horizontally, forming four
discs, this is acceptable in Devon and Cornwall. I then proceeded to
spread the cream on the top and bottom slice of scone 1 before adding
a layer of jam. The remaining two discs I firstly spread with jam
and then attempted to spread a layer of cream on top,.
Result:
They both tasted pretty much the same. Scone 1 looked quite
attractive, scone 2 was a mess.
Discussion: THe portion of clotted-cream came in a tub, had the
consistency of butter and I was issued with a knife. Any outsider
would, I think, spread the butter-like substance first. However sometimes the cream is served in a dish which comes with a spoon, in which case
spreading the jam first and then topping it with a spoonful of cream
would seem the obvious thing to do. Historically, in Devon
clotted-cream was actually used as a substitute for butter which may well may go some way to explaining the regional differences.
It
does not, however, explain why people take it all so seriously!
I
can only speculate that this due to:
a)
an increased desire for a regional identity in the face of increasing globalisation,
b)
the human (and media) tendency to divide people into two
opposing groups or
c)
a clever marketing plan by the combined Cornish and Devon tourist
boards......
whatever....
Conclusion:
My
advice when
visiting
Devon
or Cornwall:
do what one of my companions did that day: ORDER THE CHOCOLATE CAKE !
