NYC Wine & Food Festival: A Tea Party with Tracy Stern

I thought I was into tea. That is, until I met Salontea owner Tracy Stern, who not only takes her custom blends with her wherever she goes and uses them as an ingredient in various recipes (tea eggs or chai pancakes, anyone?), but she even bathes with the stuff.

The tea enthusiast’s obsession began as a child as she gallivanted across Europe with her antique collector parents, acquiring her own pots and cups along the way. Various teas in her line have a specific beautifying mission in mind, such as the “Toxic Beauty”, a low caffeine green tea blend with ginkgo, nettle, blackberry, St. John’s wart, mistletoe and lemongrass, ingredients intended to provide the necessary antioxidants to forgive a hectic lifestyle. And a line of spa products also incorporate tea in everything from eye pads to body scrubs to foot treatments. Ah, beauty and food. Exactly what we like best.

As part of the New York City Wine & Food Festival, Stern threw a high tea party at the Soho House library to promote her book, Tea Party. It turned out to be an aphrodisiac filled meal meant to seduce your senses: Ginger scones and clotted cream, salmon and crème fraiche sandwiches, a blueberry soup shot, and the perfect cap, her own brand of chocolate chai (aptly dubbed “The Lover”) with a bite-sized truffle infused with the very same blend. Did I forget to mention the equally seductive burlesque act by Grace Gotham that involved a giant teacup? Though personally, the food itself was more my cup of tea!!

The tea maven’s New York salon has seen the likes of some of the Real Housewives and Madonna’s daughter Lourdes. Having had “The Lover”, I think I’ll be making a trip there veryyy soon.

Here’s a recipe from the woman herself:

The Lover Chocolate Truffles (makes approx. 24)

Ingredients:

2/3 heavy cream

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter (cut into pieces and softened)

2 tablespoons The Lover tea – chocolate Chai tea leaves

6 oz finest bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Recipe:

1. Combine the cream and butter in a small saucepan and bring to boil.

2. Stir in the tea leaves. Remove from heat and let steep for 3-5 minutes.

3. Put the chocolate in a bowl and strain the cream mixture through a sieve over the chocolate; discard the tea leaves. Whisk the chocolate and cream mixture together until smooth, chill for approx. 2 hours until mixture is firm.

4. Dust your hands with a bit of cocoa (or cinnamon) then use your hands to roll the chilled chocolate mixture into balls (I like to use a melon scooper).

5. Use 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of chocolate mixture for each truffle. Drop the truffles into the cocoa, turn them until they’re lightly coated, and then place them in airtight container. Store them in layers separated by wax paper.

Serve in edible rose petals…enjoy!

Tea Party, a book covering 20 themed tea parties and recipes, is available at amazon.com

–Summar Ghias
BATF’s NYC Guest Blogger