It was sent over by Lucy from Leeds. When she first emailed me about it she asked how I felt about liquorice. My experience of it was of crappy sweets from our village sweet shop that I never really liked. However, I'd never really tried proper liquorice.
Well, what came through in the post blew my mind. The box contained all sorts of goodies including an ice cube tray in tea shapes (iced tea!), which may have been the reason for our weather getting so good. The box also included hibiscus flowers and an accompanying recipe, Mexican fajita mix, organic bay leaves, olives and some amazing tea.
Firstly, let me talk about the liquorice. These Pontefract cakes were amazing. I didn't know that liquorice was so soft! I've found a new sweetie love. It took a lot of willpower not to devour these in one go.
Lucy also included some liquorice root. I had no idea it was grown. In her accompanying letter she said there used to be a huge field of it between Leeds and Pontefract and the roots are six feet long. I'm now a liquorice expert and lover. I'm hoping that because it's from a root it's healthy... maybe not.
I've been raving about this tea since it arrived. It's After Dinner Tea with fennel and peppermint to help support a healthy digestive system. Lucy also sent empty tea bags (!) because its loose leaf. However, I recently purchased a new teapot so it's been seeing a lot of action.
I was worried the tea might be a little too pepperminty for me but it is glorious. The routine in my house is cook dinner, eat, drink After Dinner Tea. It's only right.
If you weren't sold on Lucy's genius by now then please take a look at her fennel, chilli and black mustard oatcakes. For which she rendered her own lard! I was infinately impressed before I'd even tried them. They had a really moist and subtly meaty flavour but then the other flavours kick in. They're so wonderful they're had to describe.
It's safe to say these were gone almost instantly. They boyfriend got to try a corner of one before I scoffed them all.
Thank you, Lucy!
You should all check out her blog Offally Good.
