The Cream Tea Debate, Cornwall & Devon · Travel Poster

There are places where the debate is purely academic. Cornwall and Devon are not those places. The question of whether the jam goes on first or the cream is, in these parts, a matter of identity, loyalty, and occasionally raised voices. Both counties produce the clotted cream. Both counties claim the scone. And both, with considerable conviction, insist the other has it completely wrong.

The Cornish position is this: jam first, cream on top. The cream, they argue, behaves more like a topping than a spread, a generous, wobbling crown,  and anything else is simply putting things in the wrong order. The Devonian position is equally clear: cream first, spread like butter across the warm scone, jam on top. Simple, logical, and obviously correct. Neither side is listening to the other, and neither side ever will.

Every poster comes with a letter from Ella on the great debate,  the history, the etiquette, the moments it has caused genuine diplomatic incidents, and an honest account of how she takes hers. 

The illustration is an original work in watercolour and ink, painted as part of the Ella's Adventures travel poster series. Choose your side.

No frame included.