Western Morning News (Saturday)
Strawberry cream is not everybody’s cup of tea
DAWN French has waded into debate over a new M&S product which claims to be a cream tea game changer – strawberry-flavoured clotted cream.
The Vicar of Dibley star lives in Fowey in Cornwall, and is a keen Twitter user, regularly posting tongue-in-cheek messages about how ‘horrid’ the county is.
However, alongside her humorous sarcastic tweets, it seems Marks and Spencer’s new strawberry-flavoured clotted cream, created by Plymouthbased Langage Farm, seems to have ruffled feathers.
There has long been cross-border debate about whether you should put jam or cream on first when assembling your cream tea – the Cornish way is jam first, while in Devon it is typically cream first.
Now M&S claims it has solved the age-old argument with a new strawberry-flavoured clotted cream, which means you no longer have to make the decision.
However many Twitter users have commented on the matter, and Dawn joined hundreds of people in expressing their dismay.
The actress, who regularly shares selfies during walks with her dog on Par Beach and at other Cornwall locations, tweeted: “There’s hell on! Am mobilising the Cornish Barbarian Horde .... we will not rest til this battle is won & our cream is safe again... appalling.”
In their original tweet which sparked the controversy, Marks & Spencer told cream tea fans they “don’t have to choose” any more, calling the cream a “sweet scone game-changer”.
The post said: “What comes first – jam or cream? Now you don’t have to choose thanks to our new strawberryflavoured clotted cream. It’s a sweet scone game changer – and it’s in store now.”
Radio Devon presenter Gordon Sparks joined the debate, tweeting: “This, Marks and Spencer is just totally wrong. The cream/jam first argument has been done to death.
“But I’m sure everyone from Cornwall and Devon will stand together and say strawberry-flavoured clotted cream is just so wrong.”
Sparkwell-based Langage Farm has defended its creation while tweeting a picture, saying: “Made by Langage Farm, where clotted cream has been the speciality for more than 40 years. The recipe combines milk from Jersey and Guernsey cows with a strawberry compote & mini fruit pieces. Delicious!”
A survey of more than 2,000 people earlier this year by Bistrot Pierre revealed that 76% enjoy their scones jam first and the remaining 24% choose the cream first option.
Even the Queen apparently prefers the Cornish way. Former royal chef Darren McGrady, who worked for the Queen and Princess Diana, previously posted on Twitter to answer the question, revealing that it was definitely “jam first at Buckingham Palace garden parties!”