A few cookies crumble at the Hyatt's high tea

A few cookies crumble at the Hyatt's high tea

By John Aglionby

JAKARTA (JP): Afternoon tea has been part of my daily diet
ever since I was old enough to sit at the kitchen table and grab
the homemade scones. Until I came to Indonesia that is. If I ask
for tea here all that usually arrives is a glass of sickeningly
sweet murky brown liquid.

So when the Grand Hyatt announced they were importing an
English chef to cook English high tea my spirits soared. This was
an opportunity not to be missed.

The meal did not begin auspiciously. On opening the menu the
only choice appeared to be between a vodka martini, a pina colada
or a Bloody Mary. Bloody heck, I thought. This is not the type of
tea I had been brought up to enjoy.

Having established that we wanted tea and not tequila, the
waitress took our order and I assumed we had to approach the
buffet, a sideboard groaning under a colorful and mouthwatering
display of cakes, pastries, savory snacks and strawberries.

But there were no scones, no jam and definitely no Devonshire
clotted cream. I thought I was imagining things. Was there
another buffet? Were we in the right restaurant? Were we even in
the right hotel?

Eventually the penny dropped. The first two courses, finger
sandwiches and scones, would be served at the table and only then
were we meant to tackle the mountains of food tempting the taste
buds and waiting to wreak havoc on the waistline.

The finger sandwiches were unspectacular and I had never had
smoked salmon mixed with cigar smoke before. The only way to
escape the latter was to turn around and have a crustless
concoction of cucumber and kretek cigarette smoke.

Then the next course arrived and at first glance I could tell
the chef knew his stuff. His scones were reassuringly
reminiscent of a disfigured dumpling and were not pristine
creations straight out of a plastic packet. They had obviously
been made to satisfy one's stomach, not entertain one's eyes.

And satisfy they did. The jam seemed underset and I prefer my
cream a little more clotted but such deficiencies were mere
bagatelles compared to the pleasure of feasting on truly English
fare.

Indeed by shutting my eyes, listening to the tinkling teacups
and giving my imagination free rein, I could almost pretend that
I was not 50 feet above pollution-belching buses but 50 feet
above the English Channel in a West Country tea shop.

The buffet did not disappoint either. The wafer-thin sable
cookies were delicious, as were the fruitcake, the shortbread,
the Eccles cakes and the Welsh Barabirth.

This curiously named dish was an enriched loaf filled with
sultanas and almonds, topped with a light almond glaze. I had
never had it before and for me it was the highlight, almost worth
the Rp 30,000 charge by itself.

All that was missing was Lardy Bread, a flat dough filled with
raisins, sultanas and covered in lard. But as Bart Buiring, the
hotel's food and beverages director said: "I felt I had to cancel
it at the last minute because if someone had eaten it and then
discovered it was full of pig's fat we would have been knocking
on devil's door."

David Bestall, the English chef, is a man who visibly has a
consuming interest in food. Second in charge at the Hyatt Carlton
Tower London he has been making scones and cakes for five years.
This is his first time in Asia but the journey has been
worthwhile, he feels.

"All I brought with me was my recipe book and myself so some
of the ingredients, particularly the flour, took a little getting
used to. There were a few teething problems to begin with but
hopefully everything should be all right once I've gone."

Bestall leaves on Sunday and responsibility for the tea, which
will continue, passes to the hotel's pastry chef Markus Bohr, who
is glad his English colleague came.

He said: "Afternoon tea represents a very unique timeframe in
which to serve food and is not for someone who has just missed
lunch. It also includes a very unique type of food and needs to
be prepared properly.

"At the end of the day what will prevail is not the sheer
amount of offerings but how authentic is what you're doing. David
has given us the authentic touch and that is what should set us
apart from the others."

I agreed with them both except on one point. To fully enjoy
the meal missing lunch would be a very good idea.

English afternoon tea is served in the Fountain Lounge of the
Grand Hyatt every day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.