The British are coming! Well actually a few are already here in Indianapolis and one in particular is on a mission to celebrate, rediscover and share the history and food of the Traditional Old English Tea Party, using traditional recipes and local ingredients.

Tina Jesson of Tina’s Traditional Old English Kitchen, came up with the idea after moving to Indianapolis from the Derbyshire region of England 3 years ago, when her husband was relocated to Indianapolis with Rolls Royce. Finding that the people she met in Indianapolis were ‘real foodies’ and appreciated some of her unusually English baked goods, jams and chutney’s, she is now offering Tea Parties in homes and offices around the city.

Tina comes from a long line of accomplished home cooks in England and was lucky enough to learn to cook at a young age by her Great Grandmother, who was born in 1899 (when Queen Vitoria was still on the thrown of England) and worked as a kitchen maid in Bradley Hall, owned at the time by Major Clues.

Her Grandmother, who was a Wren in WW2, was great at preserves, jams and chutneys and her mother was the baker of the family, making great pastry. Tina grow up in a house of 4 females spanning across 4 generations and many of the old recipes have been passed down.

Tina loves making these recipes and sharing the goodies with like minded people who have a passion for from scratch wholesome local food and the history of how the recipes came in to being or how they got their names. Such as Spotted Dick – named after Dick Turpin, the notorious highway man; Bakewell Tart, from the town of Bakewell, only miles from where Tina was born and raised and Traditional Christmas Cake with its moist fruit, homemade marzipan and Royal icing – a recipe brought to England from Germany when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. Tina also produces a range of chutney’s, like green tomato chutney (Grandmas special recipe) which is cooked liked a jam but has chillies and vinegar and goes great with strong hard cheese or ham on the bone.

You’ll find Tina’s Traditional Old English Kitchen at local farmers markets including Traders Point Creamery, where her chutney goes very well with their farm produced cheeses. You can call to place your orders for the holiday season and gift baskets are also available.

Tina’s Tea Parties can be booked for 6 -10 people in home or office:

Option 1: Hot English Breakfast Tea served with milk and accompanied with cakes and goodies to taste and buy.

Option 2: A cooking demo of how to make one of the treats from scratch; Hot English Breakfast Tea served with milk and accompanied with cakes and goodies to taste and buy.

You can contact Tina’s Traditional Old English Kitchen, 1735 Cape Hatteras Court, Brownsburg, IN 46112 by calling 317 858 4345

More Tea Vicar!