Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in Kansas City who isn't watching Season 2 of the Masterpiece Classic series Downton Abbey about the aristocrats and servants living in a British manor house during World War I. I keep telling myself that I'll rent the DVDs of the first season so I can get caught up and watch the current season. And maybe, some day, I will, so that one of my friends will invite me over for a Downton Abbey viewing party.
"What do you serve while watching the show?" I asked one friend, who hosts a gathering every Sunday night. "Tea and crumpets?"
"Pizza," was her response. "The show might be British, but I'm not."
Still, I think that if one is going to really get in the spirit of the program, one should serve food that reflects the flavor of Downton Abbey. Thus, a trip to Brits, the Lawrence shop (929 Massachusetts, 785-843-2288) that sells goods from the United Kingdom, is in order. The store's proprietor, Sally Helm, is also an avid Downton Abbey fan (she sells and rents last season's DVDs) and has some culinary recommendations for setting the proper English mood while watching the show.
"Well, there has to be tea, of course," says Helm, who sells not only all manner of British teas but also other imported beverages, like bottles of Victorian lemonade, shandy and ginger beer — "Those are for people who identify more with the downstairs characters in the series," Helm says, referring to the housemaids, butlers, footmen and valets keeping Downton Abbey running for the landed gentry living on the upper floors.
The frozen delicacies such as steak-and-kidney pies, pork bangers and curried meat pasties are not imported but are American versions of traditional British favorites that can be baked a half-hour or so before the show is aired on local PBS station KCPT Channel 19. Brits has an impressive selection of soup mixes and other savory choices for first courses. And, Helm says, the aristocracy might have wanted a "Victoria sponge," a sponge cake traditionally spread with cream and jam, for dessert. "We don't have a mix for that," says Helm, who does offer tins of toffee pudding and a wide array of English candy bars, biscuits and buttery shortbread.
Helms will be in Kansas City tonight: Brits is co-hosting (with Rainy Day Books) the author appearance and "multimedia presentation" by Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch at 7 p.m. at Unity Temple on the Plaza (the $30 admission package includes an autographed hardcover copy of Bedell's book and one or two admission tickets; call 913-384-3126 for more information.
The year 2012 is all about the thoroughly modern monarch, you see: In June, Elizabeth II celebrates her Diamond Jubilee — 60 years as England's queen. Brits is already selling commemorative Diamond Jubilee tea cups, tea towels and gift items, in case you can only watch Downton Abbey drinking your Twinings tea from a souvenir mug.
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Crumpets, citrus curds and jams, with Tiptree's Little Scarlet Strawberry at the tippity top of the flavor pyramid. Great stuff.
As far as what to eat while watching Downton Abbey...I'm going with cyanide. Lots of it.
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