A Beck Grove Tea with a hint of persimmons

Tea under the sycamores with a hint of persimmons and kumquats lured a group of twenty docents from Quail Gardens in Encinitas to Fallbrook’s Beck Grove on a balmy 83-degree mid-November day. The group was cordially invited to an afternoon tea and grove tour by Helene Beck, owner. During the outing, the group discovered that the red and yellow persimmon leaves “turned” early this year and that Mexican guava is a pungent fruit that can be used as potpourri.

It was a bit noisy when they watched the workers pulling out the citrus fruit rejects as they cascaded down a ramp in the Beck packinghouse. Some of the fruit will be sold and others used in exotic fruit condiments marketed by La Vigne Enterprises, a Beck company.

Cindy Mushet, a pastry chef from Carlsbad, worked with Helene Beck to develop desserts using persimmons, kumquat and other fruit grown in the Beck grove. The afternoon sampling of the women’s creations was presented in the Tuscany-like garden area of the guesthouse under tall sycamore and redwood trees. A delicate Lemon Grass Tea, made from the Beck’s own lemon grass was cool and refreshing on the warm autumn day.

The Persimmon Soup was a luxurious blend of persimmon, ginger and cardamom, an aromatic Indian herb. It was sweet and thick, almost like a sauce, and tasted like dessert. Guests also enjoyed Persimmon Bread, which was heavy with nuts, as well as flaky Kumquat Scones. A luscious dessert of Pecan Praline Pie with Persimmons was a sumptuous finale to the perfect November tea.