Fit for a Queen

Here at Visit Cornwall, we are led to believe that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth likes nothing better than to relax in the afternoon with a nice cream tea. I’m sure she has a much more dainty version than most of us enjoy, but as far as we know she does prefer her ‘jam first’.

This coming bank holiday, there’s no reason why everybody shouldn’t enjoy an afternoon tea, be it at home, at a street party or in one of the many hotels and café’s that are laying on special menus for the event.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Cornwall, check out places like the Hotel Meudon, Headland Hotel, Penventon Hotel, Fowey Hall Hotel, Tre, Pol and Pen Farmshop, Greenbank Hotel, Budock Vean Hotel or the Carlyon Bay Hotel amongst others, all are offering afternoon cream teas to celebrate the jubilee.

And if you haven’t read our article on why jam must go first, you can do so below…

The argument over which way you should put your jam and cream on your scones seems to have finally been settled by a study carried out at the University of Eastern England. Months of research have pulled together a large amount of data that appears to suggest that there is a scientific reason why putting the jam on first is the correct way.

Professor Stanley Stead-Mountfitchet, who led the research, stated “It seems that by adding the jam first and then biting into the cream the chemical reactions created by the taste buds in the top of the mouth are tricked by the soft neutral taste of the cream, giving a sharp reaction when you reach the tangy jam. When the experiment is reversed the taste buds have already been awoken by the jam before you reach the cream, so there is less of a contrast, and because of this you don’t enjoy the sensation of eating the product so much”

The news will come as no surprise to inhabitants of Cornwall, who for years have argued that ‘jam first’ is the correct, and only way to eat scones. (First published April 1st 2022)