History of walnut

Walnuts belong to the genus Juglans, of the walnut family Juglandacae. Ancestral forms of walnut once spanned Europe, Asia and the Americas as far as north as Alaska.

Climate changes altered the geographic distribution and further evolutionary pressures resulted in the 21 species of Juglans in existence today.

All species produce nuts but the Persian or English walnut (Juglans regia) is the only species widely cultivated for nut production. The name Persian walnut is descriptive of its origin. Since Roman times, the English walnut had been cultivated commercially in Europe.

The walnut tree was introduced into Europe by the Romans and has been grown there since the 4th century. The Greeks cultivate the tree intensively, mainly for walnut oil, and the Romans regarded it as a sacred tree.

The word walnut may be derived from ‘wealh nut’, ‘wealh’ meaning foreign in Anglo-Saxon or old German. Trees of the species were in England by 1562 and nuts were brought to America by the earliest settlers.

The American colonist are said to have called the species ‘English’ walnut because it was brought to America on English ship and to distinguish it from the native American eastern black walnut (J. nigra). Black walnuts are native to the Central Mississippi Valley and the Appalachian region of North America. Black walnuts were an important source of food for the American Indians and early settlers.
History of walnut

History of English muffin

The English muffin dates to the tenth century in Wales, though it is just referred to as muffin in the United Kingdom. They were originally a sour dough flat bread.

The name ‘English muffin’ has been cited in print since at least in 1795, although these might have been misnamed as crumpets.

Recipes for ‘Muffin and English Muffins’ were given in an 1851 cookbook. For serving, muffins are toasted back and front and then split with fingers by easing them apart as the joint all the way around.

Some butter place inside and the two halves put back together and kept warm. This method appears as early as 1747 and was recommended by Hannah Glasse, who said that the inside should be like honeycomb.

Samuel Bath Thomas (1855-1919) came to New York City from Plymouth, England and opened a Manhattan bakery in 1880 at 163 Ninth Avenue.

English muffins were sold at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and this created some interest in the product. To capitalize on this interest, Thomas formed the S.B Thomas Company which began manufacturing English muffins.

The best-selling Thomas’s English muffins are claimed to have originated from a family recipe.

English muffins have been included in Eggs Benedict recipes since at least 1902.

English muffins received some attention during the 1970s, in part because they were considered healthier than traditional bakery foods.
History of English muffin

History of toffee

Toffee is chewy candy made of brown sugar, molasses, or syrup that is boiled until very thick and pulled until it is glossy and holds it shape.

The origin of the word ‘toffee’ seems to be lost in time although it might de described from ‘taffy’, a dialect word for ‘sticky’.

The word taffy dates to 1817 and preceded toffee which dates to 1825. Until comparatively recently, the term ‘toffee’ was used simply for the substance made by boiling sugar and butter together; not until the 1930s do examples begin to appear of its use for a single as in ‘a pound of toffees’.

Toffee apples, apples coated with a thin layer of toffee and fixed on a stick, seem to be an early twentieth century invention; they are first mentioned in the Christmas 1917 issue of the B.E.F Times.

In America they are called candy apple. English toffee is a very butter form of toffee to which almonds are often added.
History of toffee

History of English Breakfast Tea

The prototype of this most popular of all teas was developed over a hundred years ago by the Scottish Tea Master Drysdale in Edinburgh.


By the 1700s, it become indoctrinated into the English lifestyle. It replaced the customary practice of drinking ale at breakfast.

The institution of tea for breakfast was probably influenced by Queen Anne (1665-1714).

It was marketed simply as "Breakfast Tea". It quickly became popular in England because Queen Victoria loved all things Scottish.

Tea shops in London, however, changed the name and marketed it as "English Breakfast Tea", claiming it as their own.

It is an originally blend of fine black teas from India and Chinese tea, often including some Keemun tea.

Keemun, a black Chinese tea with a fruity taste and a hint of pine. Keemun possess a full, concentrated flavor and a toasty aroma and sometimes referred to as the ‘Burgundy of teas.’

Nowadays Assam, Ceylon and African teas are blended to provide drinkers with the three elements they require – strength, flavour and color.

It should be offered with milk or lemon. It may also be used to brew iced tea.
History of English Breakfast Tea