If you look up 'tea' in the first cookery book that comes to hand you
will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few
lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several ofthe most
important points.
This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays
ofcivilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New
Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject
ofviolent disputes.
When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I findno
fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would
be pretty general agreement, but at least four others areacutely
controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one ofwhich I regard
as golden:
