A Perfect Tea For Coleridge

Today is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's birthday and for many of his fans, including myself , this is a day to celebrate the great poet's birthday.He was born in the lovely Devonshire town of Ottery Saint Mary , where cream teas and other good food abound.This is English country food, of the finest farm to table and sea to table variety. Devon is a coastal county or shire located on the English Channel.It may be the birthplace of Coleridge but its main seaside town, Torquay, became famous thanks to the hilarious TV show "Faulty Towers" over forty years ago.The area boasts true farm to table cuisine.One of the most famous dishes is the pasty.This is a small, handheld pie stuffed with meat, usually beef or sausage.The pastry is buttery and flaky ,a melt in your mouth treat, especially if the filling is juicy and tender.Another tea or lunch time treat is white pudding, a highly spiced pork sausage.Mutton, lamb and beef are abundant here and everyone from visiting foodie's to locals can enjoy a variety of different roasts and stews .Since there are plenty of creameries, there is also plenty of good cheese.A favorite and decadent treat is fried cheese.This is when small wedges of different cheeses are breaded and then deep fried .A dash of tart lignon berry jam.They also love potted cheese, basically leftover cheese mixed with butter an, pounded for malleability and then poured into a pot.Sometimes sherry is added for zing and then it's served with bread or crackers.There is some good cheese here, from the cream cheese like Curworthy and Sharpham, a Devon take on the French Brie.Surprisingly seaweed plays a part in the diet too, thanks to locals gathering it up from the Devon coast. It's not as popular as it once was, however some chefs are cooking with it and appreciate it's nutritional value The county is also famed for it's cream teas.This is a proper English tea but with clotted cream generously dotting scones along with a healthy scoop of homemade jam.Most usually serve the tame and almost boring strawberry jam but some prefer the highly tart and eye opening rhubarb and gooseberry sorts.Devon is also known for their apples and these along with apple cakes abound here.Some recipes have been handed down since Elizabethan times and I'm sure Coleridge enjoyed a few during his boyhood in the Devon countryside?Clotted cream also figures in fudge as well.Creameries featuring fresh made ice cream is sold throughout the area, some creameries even using clotted cream as a base. Samuel Taylor Coleridge grew up with some of the freshest foods for his time.They can still be enjoyed today, thanks to the purity and abundance of meats, fish produce and dairy.Devonshire food is the food of poets, supplying them with sustenance for centuries.