Things to have in the middle of lessons

I have a very definite fixed idea that the truly civilized life consists of engaging in scholarly activities all day, punctuated by walks outdoors and little snacks accompanied by nice things to drink. Unfortunately, I do not manage to make this happen nearly often enough, even though it would actually not be very difficult at all. (As I once said here on a related subject, "this fantasy is so much like what my life could easily be, if only I were a better person, that it is kind of depressing." But no matter.)

In any case, I have no doubt that my notion of the proper morning version of this fantasy comes from a passage in Noel Streatfield's fine children's book, Ballet Shoes:

At nine they began lessons. Posy did two hours' reading, writing, and kindergarten work with Sylvia, and Pauline and Petrova did three hours with Doctor Jakes and Doctor Smith. They were very interesting lessons, but terribly hard work; for if Doctor Smith was teaching Pauline, Doctor Jakes taught Petrova, and the other way on, and as both doctors had spent their lives coaching people for terribly stiff examinations - though of course they taught quite easy things to the children - they never got the idea out of their minds that a stiff examination was a thing everybody had to pass some day. There was a little break of ten minutes in the middle of the morning when milk and biscuits were brought in; but after a day or two they were never eaten or drunk. Both doctors had lovely ideas about the sort of things to have in the middle of lessons - a meal they called a beaver. They took turns to get it ready. Sometimes it was chocolate with cream on it, and sometimes Doctor Jakes' ginger drink, and once it was ice-cream soda; and the things to eat were never the same: queer biscuits, little ones from Japan with delicate flowers painted on them in sugar, cakes from Vienna, and specialties of different kinds from all over England. They had their beavers sitting round the fire in either of the doctors' rooms, and they had discussions which had nothing to do with lessons.

Now, doesn't that just sound ideal? Why do I not sit around a little table in someone's office and have this kind of thing every day at eleven? Apparently I used to be better about it, but I seem to have lapsed lately. If I were going to manage to have a midmorning meal tomorrow, it would consist of the tea pictured above and one of these olive oil pastry things, both of which I have right on hand in my treat drawer at home.

The tea, as you see, is from France, part of the big shipment I got a while ago. I certainly do have a weakness for these high-end teas with bits of stuff in them, and this one is excellent. The delicious snacks are from Spain, by way of Whole Foods, and are very nice flat round crispy flaky Tortas de Aceite, each wrapped in its own piece of waxy paper. They are a little bit sweet and a little bit anise-flavored, and very nice indeed.

Wikipedia tells me that the Torta de Aceite is "a light, crispy and flaky Sevillian biscuit," and "a Spanish creation with more than 100 years of tradition behind it." They are undeniably a bit expensive, at something like five or six dollars for a packet of just six tortas (though who can put a price on a hundred years of tradition?). If you decide you want to try to make some for yourself, be warned: it seems that all the recipes available on the internet are wrong, wrong, wrong. I'm lazy and can also make a package last for a good couple of weeks, so I think I'll go on paying through the nose -- but if you feel like experimenting, let me know how it goes!

Comments

[aleza]

i love the tortas de aceite and could go through close to infinite quantities of them, if my budget could stand it (though they're a bit cheaper at my local co-op: 4 bucks and change, i think.) i like them particularly with a soft stinky cheese, for a slightly more substantial snack.

Also, I remember reading "Ballet Shoes", though not the snacks. Perhaps I should dig it out the next time I'm at my parents' place...

[lindy (a/k/a mum)]

Ah, Ballet Shoes.....

[Eshta]

Hi!

FWIW, I have tried both brands and I think the Matiz brand crispbreads/tortas are better. Give them a try if you can find them.

They look like this:
http://www.matizespana.com/products/8breads/8b_MatAnd_tortas.html

[redfox]

Thank you for the tip! I will certainly keep an eye out for them.

Actually, just now as I was previewing this comment, I went to see, and it looks like these ones aren't sold locally. They are, however, available online here, so perhaps I'll place an order, if I can find a few more things to buy and justify the cost/trouble/fuel of shipping.

[Emilie]

I translated the Spanish-language recipe for tortas de aceite and posted it to the smsfr.blogspot.com/2007/03/tortas-de-aceite.html website. The English language recipes online are more for a cookie, and not a yeast-dough torta. European measurements are in gram weights. One gram = .035 ounce.

Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA

[Emilie Garcia]

The recipe for the tortas that I tried to post to the smsfr blogspot fails to appear there yet. Here is the recipe:

Tortas de Aceite

50 gr (1 3/4 oz) olive oil
Peel of 1/2 lemon
1 T ground anise
180 gr (6 1/3 oz) flour
10 gr (1/3 oz) yeast
80 gr (2 3/4 oz warm water
20 gr (3/4 oz) Anis del Mono
(anise liqueur, anisette)
1 T sesame seeds
15 gr (1/2 oz) sugar
Pinch of salt

Heat the oil with the lemon peel, remove from heat and add ground anise. When cool, add rest of ingredients and knead gently. Let rise until doubled. Form dough into little balls about the size of walnuts and roll out thin in a circle. Sprinkle with sugar if desired. Place in baking pan and bake in 325 oven til golden. These go good with olive tapenade if made without the sugar.

Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA