[Sca-cooks] tea question, 2nd attempt

[Barbara Nostrand]

Noble Cousins!

Greetings from Solveig! Unfortunately, you do not post what you are trying
to do and why. Tea has undergone quite a bit of evolution over the centuries.
Regardless, tea houses are mentioned by the Polo's and were fairly common
in Kai Feng. They and the activities at them are described in Food in Chinese
Culture edited by K. C. Chang.

One note of interest is that one of the houses was described as serving
food such as served to officials and in fact some of these tea houses
were former official residences.

This book also notes the development of several tea ceremonies in China
during the T'ang dynasty. It also states that tea was taken separately
from meals.

As tea was originally a luxury in China, I suggest eating small amounts
of sweet confections, pastries, candied fruit (including candied baby
eggplant), possibly candied flowers, &c. immediately prior to drinking
the tea.

					Your Humble Servant
					Solveig Throndardottir
					Amateur Scholar



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| Dr. Barbara Nostrand             | Department of Computer Science   |
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