Oct 19 2006
where’s the kettle?
Second in a thumping-good Thursday tiffin series exploring taking tiffin with (black) tea in the NW USA
Thursday Tiffin #2: where’s the kettle?
Last week we established that asking an American if they have any Black tea is a good way of getting a shared focus on what English people generally consider as tea rather than, for example, an infusion. Having found the tea the American host then has to ‘make’ it. Let’s pick up the story where we left it last week:
My host American pulls out a saucepan from the cupboard, fills it with water, puts the lid on, and places it on the electric hob hotplate. The American has to keep an eye on the water to find out when it has, or is nearly boiling. The American stands by the hob while we talk and intermittently checks the panned water.
People do own stove-top kettles, buts its not unusual for the home-owner not to own a kettle at all. I don’t think I know any American’s with an electric Kettle in their home. The few Americans that have noticed my electric kettle in action are impressed by the economy of having the filament in the water and the clever way the automatic off-switch lets you know when it’s boiled (noisey ‘click). But realistically, they don’t need one. What does this mean for visiting UK style Tea drinkers?
When in a NW American’s home it is reasonable to start with the assumption that
your American host will use a stove hot-plate to boil the tea water, possibly with a saucepan
where’s the kettle?
I own an electric kettle (actually I am on electric kettle version 2.0 since version 1.0 died last year). I use it to make ice tea (and hot tea too). I love my electric kettle. I am just an odd Amercian.
We own an electric kettle. We’ve even used it to serve you tea I think
I have an electric kettle* too! … But I end up using my stovetop one most of the time, (Can’t have enough kettles at my house!) as I have zero countertop space so it’s too big of a production.
* Purchased after seeing them in NZ, where I was FASCINATING with the almost INSTANTANEOUS hot water. Oooh! Aaaah!
Can you see a theme emerging amongst all the lovely people I know who live in the NW US?
Though, it has to be said, that some of these sneaky people are not originally from here, they are even from ABROAD (across an Ocean, not American Citizens), or they’ve had the audacity to visit and mix with people from OTHER ex-colonies (other than the US), and I’ll include France in the list of other ex-colonies (that’s a whole separate controversial blog post). This makes their kettle owning skills an out-of the normal NW-US experience…. and explains why I may have trusted them with the tricky taskl of making a cup of tea for me…
It’s wonderful, now I know where to go for my efficiently boiled water ….
I don’t have an electric kettle but I do have a regular teapot.
I have been a lot of places in the US where they simply put a coffe mug full of hot water in the Microwave and heat it until the water boils then hand you the mug and a bag of whatever it is they consider to be tea.