Afternoon Tea & tasty discoveries

Saturday I went to a lovely afternoon tea with some friends. Johanna of The Passionate Cook organised it; she has just had a baby and as she is feeling the lack of culinary outings, her solution is for Mohammed to go to the mountain. I'm certainly not complaining - I had a great deal of fun talking cooking, cooking, and yes, more cooking! and the food (somewhat unsurprisingly) was fantastic. The other attendees were Jeanne of Cook Sister!, Jennifer who runs her own cooking school, Eat Drink Talk, and Susan who runs her own catering company, Joy of Taste.

I made Brie Tartlets and Prune Tartlets, and there was also Smoked Salmon on Ryebread with wasabi cream cheese, Beef Carpaccio Sandwiches with garlic mayonnaise & parmesan cheese, Chive Mini Scones with ham, mascapone and red onion marmalade, Myer Lemon Curd, Ham & Cheese Paprika Muffins, Fruit Scones with a variety of tasty preserves & clotted cream, Almond Pansyshell Cookies, and Fruit & Custard Tartlets. All of it tasted gorgeous.

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I was particularly pleased to finally get a taste of a Myer Lemon. I've heard a lot about them from American cooking friends, but I've never seen them in the UK. Jennifer says they are rather like a cross between a mandarin and a lemon (the curd was definitely an orange shade of yellow) and they have a thinner skin. The curd was delicious and definitely sweeter than a normal lemon. I'm now wondering if they can be grown in the *cough* sunny climes of Berkshire...

Jennifer also brought along a new import from Borough Market - a Finger Lime (Citrus australasica). At first glance I took it to be some sort of gherkin, but it's a cylindrical shaped lime, about an inch in diameter and three inches long. It has very large globular vesicles (the little seedlike juice-filled sacs you get in citrus fruit) and apparently is marketed as 'lime caviar'. The taste was amazing - a real punch of lime, without the bitter aftertaste.

As Jennifer said, it would be perfect as a garnish or in cocktails. It seems that they grow in shades of green and red (although the taste is the same) and I can just imagine how lovely it would be to have little lime and ruby droplets glowing on a dish. They would be just as pretty as pomegranate seeds, and without the pip too! I'd never even heard of this fruit before (apparently it only grows in lowland rainforests in Eastern Australia) and have to say - as an ardent lime fan - that I was completely enthralled with it. Jeanne and I are planning to visit Borough Market on Easter Saturday, so I will try to find some.

~

P.S. For those of you in London, both the Myer Lemons and the Finger Limes can occasionally be found at Borough Market at Booths Mushrooms, the large fruit & veggie stall opposite the Brindisa stall on Rochester Walk.

Comments

[Pille]

Those finger limes sound great - I'll make sure to look them up at the Borough market next week!

[Jeanne]

Great write-up! And ooooh those finger limes were just amazing, weren't they. We'll have to try and get some this Saturday ;-)

[Christina]

Pille - do! They're fantastic. Sorry I'll miss seeing you - maybe next time. Have a great visit. :-)