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Root of longevity

长寿之根

Brown sugar ginger soft caramel with
Xinjiang crispy red dates

The Earl in Lin’an

临安伯爵

Earl grey tea lavender ganache with
caramelised Lin’an hickory walnut

Peace apple & Noble spice

‘平’果与神农的香料

Chinese 5 spice burnt Shandong apple &
crispy cinnamon speculoos

Root of longevity -

长寿之根

Brown sugar ginger soft caramel with Xinjiang crispy red dates

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger is used to balance the body’s qi energy, promote healing and ward off illness, contributing to a long & healthy life. As ginger needs to go through a long period of cold winter & drought during its growth, but still grows tenaciously into a delicious root, ginger also symbolizes tenacity & perseverance, enabling one to forge ahead in order to achieve success & happiness.

Red dates (红枣) represent a thriving life. The 红 (hong) refers to the Chinese lucky colour red, meanwhile the 枣 (zao) sounds the same as 早 meaning early. Eating red dates implies a thriving life will come very soon. Xinjiang province is renowned for growing the best quality red dates.

The Earl in Lin’an -

临安伯爵

Twining’s Earl Grey tea lavender ganache with caramelised Lin’an hickory walnut

The legend goes that Earl Charles Grey who later served as UK Prime Minister in the 1830s, was given cases of this tea by a Chinese Mandarin. With its light, fragrant & distinctive bergamot flavour he liked it so much he asked London’s Twining’s to recreate it for him. Forever since Earl Grey tea has steeped itself in history as one of the most popular teas in the world.

For over 500 years, the 天目山 (Tianmu Shan: Heavenly Eyes mountain) from临安 (Lin’an) country in China’s eastern coastal Zhejiang province famously produces the finest hickory walnuts. It takes 10 years for a hickory tree to grow into maturity and bear this prized nut, which only grows at the tree’s very tops, conveying determination in achieving the fruit of one’s labour. In traditional Chinese medicine, hickory walnuts are thought to nourish the mind, while the specific plump shape of the Tianmu Mountain hickory walnut is regarded as symbolising health & longevity.

Peace apple & Noble spice -

‘平’果与神农的香料

Chinese 5 spice burnt Shandong apple & crispy Belgian cinnamon speculoos biscuits

Chinese apples 苹果 (Pingguo) carry the same Ping sound as in the word 平安 (Ping An) meaning peace & health. By their moniker ‘Fruits of Peace’, symbolising peace & harmony, apples are commonly gifted at holidays featuring designs that represent love & care. Here I use apples from the hills of north-eastern Shandong province, renowned for their crisp, sweet apples.

Included in the Chinese god of agriculture Shennong’s (神农) 5,000 year-old book on agriculture & medicinal plants, the ‘Bencaojing’ (本草经) that is still used in traditional Chinese medicine to this day, cinnamon is listed as one of the 100 most important therapeutic ‘noble spices’. Daoists believed in alchemy and regarded cinnamon as the food of the gods. Mythology describes the bark being crushed into a pulp & added as an ingredient to make the “pill of immortality”.