Two plus two is supposed to equal five — or even six, seven or eight, according to chef Bernd Uber, when tea is paired with food.
With the two enhancing each other's flavours to spawn a gastronomical marriage, what you get is an extraordinarily pleasurable palate that transcends what the tea or food could have achieved alone. But getting the combination right isn't easy, which is what the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge — a two-day event that was held at Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit on Sep 30-Oct 1 in Thailand for the first time — was all about. The winner of Thailand's heats, Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok, will be competing in the finals next year in Sri Lanka, against teams from Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
The competition first started in 2007 in Sri Lanka and is now a worldwide affair that invites those that dabble in the food and beverage industry to showcase their brewing and presenting talents. Each team is required to serve one traditional loose-leaf black tea, hot tea mocktail, tea-based cocktail and chilled tea-based mocktail. Along with each tea, teams are required to serve a paired food item (two sweet and two savoury) that match or complement the teas they have chosen. Following High Tea tradition, these should be a selection of finger foods as opposed to larger servings. Contestants must also use tea in two more food items as a main flavour or ingredient as part of the menu, all which must be served within a time frame of 30 minutes.
Chocolate Hazelnut Slice paired with Bangkok Ice using the Original Earl Grey Tea.
Chef Bernd Uber, a renowned culinary guru, along with president of Thailand Chefs Association Jamnong Nirungsan and Dilmah tea authority Dilhan Fernando served as judges that looked not only for a contemporary approach to tea time presentation, but also an understanding of teas from different terroirs and how well they are paired with the food, preferably made with local, sustainable ingredients.
"I've never judged competitions about tea before, so I was shocked at first to know that tea could make so much food!" said chef Jamnong at the awards reception. "I'm sure many people also feel that way and I've learned a lot myself from this."
As simple as the challenge sounds, the most common thing that people get wrong is still the most important: the tea. During the commenting session after each presentation, Fernando emphasised to many teams again and again that brewing tea right did not only mean leaving the leaves in to brew for the correct amount of time. To get a full-bodied taste meant having to stir the water in the tea pot every two minutes, so the tea leaves get in contact with all the water in the pot, rather than just the water at the bottom — a little detail that could change delightful to divine. This year, 15 hotels and catering companies from all over Thailand tried their hand at the tea cuisine and tea pairing challenge. Fanciful decorations and lush excess fit for royalty was the theme for some, while another team simply set the table with the bare essentials of cutlery and porcelain, showing that Thailand still had a long way to go before mastering the art of high tea. Competition breeds excellence, however, so we can hope to see standards of high tea rising as the competition gains momentum and more awareness thanks to the Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge.
Shangri-La Bangkok's team, consisting of executive pastry chef Reinoif Moessl and Wilai Tangprasertsuk from the lobby lounge, scored the top spot thanks to their extravagant (although borderline over-the-top) pink flower setting and captivating tea-inspired bites, with chef Uber's assertion that: "They are among the top-ranking in the world." We'll let the pictures do the talking. Zazen Boutique Resort and Spa from Koh Samui were close behind as runner-up and Centara Grand at CentralWorld Hotel made second place runner-up.
In reference to that team with the practically bare table, Dilhan Fernando closed on the note that: "High tea is not just about food and tea, it is also about experience. You must colour that experience like you are painting."
