Versatili-tea

The likes of Earl Grey, green tea and Lapsang Souchong can play a far greater part in restaurant menus than something to drink with the petits fours when the meal is over.

Indeed, many chefs have got around to experimenting with tea leaves and found that the delicate flavours they impart marry well with a multitude of foods. Brett Sutton, head chef at Holbrook House country house hotel, Wincanton, Somerset, discovered its virtues three or four years ago. "It's surprising how versatile an ingredient it can be," he says.

Darjeeling, Earl Grey and green tea have all made it on to his menus at one time or another. A current offering is a passion fruit and green tea jelly served in a shot glass as a predessert. It's proved so popular with diners that it's been on the menu for a year. Sutton finds the combination makes for a refreshing flavour, perfect for taking away any heaviness after several courses.

Another combination Sutton finds works well is Darjeeling and salmon. "We used to smoke a pavé of salmon over oak chippings sprinkled with Darjeeling tea leaves," he says. "It was quite fragrant but not overpowering."

He even found a use for an ordinary black tea bag which he would add to chicken and veal stock and Madeira when making a cèpe sauce to serve with a fillet of beef. "It really brought out the flavour of the cèpes," he says.

Like many chefs, Sutton finds aromatic teas the perfect ingredient for desserts, and one of his favourites is a vanilla panna cotta with lychees and caramelised tea leaves. For this he uses Earl Grey tea combined with icing sugar and a drop of water then heated in a slow oven to produce sweet, crystalised leaves.

With a move to Summer Lodge country house hotel, Evershot, Dorset, imminent, Sutton is planning to experiment in his new kitchen with fruit and herbal teas such as ginseng, probably also in desserts.

The dessert section is where green tea currently makes an appearance on head chef Anthony Demetre's menu at London's Putney Bridge restaurant. Cream of lychees is served with cubes of green tea jelly. "Given the origin of the lychees, we wanted to keep it Eastern, hence the green tea," he explains.

Demetre has used scented teas such as bergamot and ginger flavours extensively in pastry, and finds the delicate flavour of rosehip marries beautifully with a ganache. But he has a preference for using those with a more pronounced flavour. "It's the smoky ones that interest me more," he says, referring to a Souchong tea known as a tarry leaf used for a dish of turbot cooked in hay and a salt crust with a wild mushroom sauce.

The only problem he sometimes finds is in getting diners to try such dishes. "People can get scared when they see Souchong in a dish," he says.

TEA TIPS

• Use bottled water when making tea to use in recipes.
• Delicate tea flavours tend to work better with fish than meat.
• Liptons recommends marinating dried fruits in its Assam black tea when making traditional Irish barm brack and soaking prunes in Earl Grey tea for a prune, bergamot and almond tart.
• Tetley suggests adding its brew to a recipe for apricot and Brazil nut tea bread.
• Darjeeling prunes in bacon, frozen apricot tea mousse using Earl Grey, and smoky chicken and ham rolls using Lapsang Souchong are all suggestions from Twinings.

SUPPLIERS SAY:

"Tea, with its vast range of styles and flavours, is extremely well suited to cooking. Green tea in particular, with its balance of sweet, mild flavours and subtle astringency, lends itself to desserts, sauces and soups, while a smoky Lapsang Souchong or a scented Earl Grey can add a real punch to dishes."

Malcolm Olmi, director, Drury Tea & Coffee Company

"Earl Grey tea is great for cooking. Its blend of Ceylon and China teas, enhanced lightly with bergamot oil, gives a full flavour with a hint of citrus and a rich colour. An ideal ingredient in desserts."

Tim Franklin-Heys, executive chef, UBF Foodsolutions, supplier of Liptons tea

"Tea is rapidly becoming more than just a drink and is regularly seen on menus at the very top establishments. Because of the subtle flavours different blends of tea can give a dish, there are numerous ways in which it can be used."

Lisa Merrick, senior brand manager, Tetley

"Tea has a wonderful range of flavours, from soft and subtle green tea through to the robust and pungent black teas. This make it a very useful ingredient to add flavours to foods to give a hint of difference, such as adding Earl Grey flavour to a rice dish, or using the wonderful distinctive smoky character of Lapsang Souchong to marinate fish."

Stephen Twining, corporate director, Twinings

CONTACTS

• Drury Tea & Coffee Company 020 7740 1100
• Lipton/UBF Foodsolutions 0800 7833728
• Tetley 020 8578 2345
• Twinings 01264 348681