The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea [Hardcover]

Helen Simpson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 1986

Afternoon tea is the english meal-time institution, a social as well as a culinary event.

It is precisely this atmosphere which is embodied in the Palm Court Tearoom at the Ritz in London, which for many years has been one of the most delightful and traditional places to take tea.

The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea captures the essence of this traditional British occasion and provides the reader with all the Ritz expertize in the ceremony as well as over 50 recipes, illustrated with passages from Dickens to Oscar Wilde and charming drawings.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

After five years at Oxford, where she gained a M. Litt. degree for a thesis called Unreasonable Laughter in Restoration Comedy, Helen Simpson won the Vogue Talent Contest. The next five years have been spent working at Vogue, writing about travel, shops and food, as well as interviews and fictions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks (October 25, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877958238
• ISBN-13: 978-0877958239
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > English, Scottish & Welsh
  • #83 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Coffee & Tea

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the past 11 years its one of my favorites!, May 27, 2004

By 

Elizebeth Neumann (Seattle, wa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea (Hardcover)

I started hosting tea parties when I was 15. I would get up at 6:00 am and start baking and cook until 2-3 and then the feast would be ready. This book was the first "tea book" I bought.

I have to admit I was lucky that I bought this book because I wasnt a great cook (I was 15) and I didnt know what I was doing. This book has wonderful recipes that are easy to follow and most are simple to make....and delicious!

Now that Ive been doing this tea thing for almost 12 years I have many different books on the subject. But this one is the most used, its covered in flour and it contains some of my favorite recipes.

A few of the standout recipes in my opinon are, rock cakes, madelines, victoria sandwich, welsh rarebit and meruinges. You wont be dissapointed in this book. The size is small but its jam-packed with goodies!

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of 4, January 4, 2005

By 

Sophie (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea (Hardcover)

I've recently bought 4 different tea books and this is the best one I have so far. There are a lot of the expected recipes for traditional tea time fare, with some minor omissions I felt. The print left something to be desired, some of it was blurred, but if you just want to buy 1 English tea book, this is it.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book., May 1, 2004

By 

WhatTheDormouseSaid (everywhere) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The London Ritz Book of Afternoon Tea (Hardcover)

This is a nice little primer on teas, including a history of tea, tea through the ages, and of course recipes.

The recipes are given in both metric and "American" measures. Most of the recipes I tried worked such as scones, drop scones, gingerbread, potted shrimp, devilled ham on toast rounds, the "english" muffins, crumpets, lemon curd, rock cakes (no they don't contain rocks!), the Dundee cake and most of the savoury recipes. A few did not such as the Madeira cake and the Victoria Sponge.

All in all it's a nice little book.