Cuisine – Small Things That Matter

There’s nothing nicer than the treat of a really old fashioned High Tea. It’s a rare thing these days, but can be found in fancy hotels, the occasional café and served up occasionally as a celebration in retirement homes. A proper High Tea is served on a three tiered cake stand, on beautiful plates and accompanied by all the service of properly made tea – not tea bags but a china or silver teapot which is frequently topped up with boiling water and possibly replaced as it empties.

There will be hot savouries and pastries on the top layer, delicate finger sandwiches and scones on the middle layer and at the bottom the very special sweet things to finish. An hour or two is spent, chattering and eating and the whole affair becomes a luxurious extravagance of taste and time. The custom of the High Tea is very British, having been started by the royal ladies-in-waiting of Victorian times, who were anxiously hungry by 4pm each day so called for tea and a slice of bread and butter to fill the gap between lunch and the late dinner hour. It grew to become a ritual of the upper classes but, like all good things soon, filtered down to all society.

The best thing about High Tea is that all the food is dainty and, therefore, suitable for delicate and restrained appetites. I’m not sure when the generosity of modern day eating became the thing it is today but so often the food presented in the cabinet in bakeries and cafés is of gargantuan proportions and not really appealing to anybody except those hungry workmen dashing in to grab lunch on the run.

It’s time to bring small food back as an alternate choice in the tempting café cabinets, and better still, when the ‘take a plate’ is called for. My late mother knew a thing or two about tempting food to serve for friends. I can guarantee that every single plate of food she ever made for any occasion was always the first to disappear on any table of shared delights. Luckily, I have her recipes in my repertoire and make her truly delicious little triangular ham and egg sandwiches or her astonishingly good asparagus rolls that are prepared with lemon zest, mayo and plenty of black pepper.

Mother also made small cakes, not big slabs of cake but tiny little butterfly cakes with cream, small sweet meringues with lemon curd and tiny little lamingtons. It’s my dream that cafés will take up the challenge of offering small bites, both savoury and sweet, rather than the daunting fare that loses appeal for anyone who is a little older or not so hungry.

Perhaps the ultimate sweet treat I know is this brilliant lemon curd tartlet recipe from my good friend and fellow food writer Kathy Paterson. Kathy is a caterer who has now turned her hand to recipe writing and recently edited a new Radio NZ cookbook due out soon, which is a treasure trove of all the best recipes broadcast over the past 30 or 40 years. These tartlets are very simple and the perfect ‘small things’ to prepare to share on any occasion.

Keep the lemon curd in the refrigerator for up to a week. It is deliciously tart and sweet at the same time and perfect to slather on toast or to use in layer cakes or atop meringues.

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Lemon Curd Tartlets

Lemon curd filling
170g caster sugar
115 g butter
2 large lemons, grated rind and strained juice
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Pastry
115g caster sugar
225g flour
115g cold butter, cut into cubes
2 egg yolks
2-3 tbsps water

To make the lemon curd, place the sugar, butter, lemon rind and juice in a heavy based saucepan. Cook over very gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. Sieve the eggs through a stainless steel or plastic strainer on to the mixture and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring continually until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil. Tip into a clean jar to set, and refrigerate until needed.

To make the tartlet cases, tip the flour and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and whizz together. Add the butter and process until it is thoroughly mixed. Add the yolks and process again, tipping just enough water in to bring the pastry together. Form into a ball and roll out on a floured benchtop.
Using pastry cutters or a glass, cut out rounds to fill small tartlet tins. Press each pastry round into its tin and prick the bottom with a fork.

Chill the pastry cases before baking in a pre-set oven at 180°C until they turn a pale biscuit colour. Cool before filling with lemon curd.

Makes 24 small tartlets or more if your tin is one of those really tiny ones.