EASY EATS: Tea with
RICK CASTRO
For Betty Gonia, afternoon tea is a relaxing day to the end the day... and the column.
Today's Easy Eats is very special because I am sharing an interview with my long time friends from high school, and afternoon tea expert, Mr. Rick Castro. He has an art gallery in Hollywood called Antebellum. You can also find his blogs on Hollywood Patch. He was in Palm Springs recently for the Film Noir Festival, and we met for breakfast at the Ace Hotel.
Every afternoon at 4:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. in the winter), Rick serves afternoon tea at the Antebellum. He shared with me some guidelines for a succesful tea.
- No more than 7 guests because you only want one conversation.
- Make a toast only by raising tea cups and never clinking them as they may break.
- The spirit of afternoon tea is important in this day and age. It is a one to two hour respite in the day and a mini-vacation.
- Afternoon tea helps you be more productive because youre stepping away to take in the moment and regroup.
For Rick, the accompaniments to the afternoon tea are important. The food should always be on the plain side, because the tea is the star. He suggests one savory and one sweet such as egg salad sandwiches mane from veganaise and chopped chives. For a sweet, he enjoys toasted crumpets (found at Trader Joe's and Ralphs), with (preferably British) lemon curd.
The best way to serve tea is to keep the tea with its own flavor. No milk or sugar added! He learned form his tea master to find the best water possible and to preheat the pot as well as the teacups. Rick hand-blends his own loose tea. On this particular day he favored black tea from India and baby rosebuds. Begin with cold water and when the water just begins to boil, pour it into a preheated teapot with a teaspoon of loose tea. Let it steep for four minutes, then serve.
I very much enjoyed my time with Rick and leanring about afternoon tea. I hope he returns to the desert soon.
repost courtesy~ betty fenar~ palm desert/antebellum correspondent
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