[Sca-cooks] Tea

[Kim Schab]

I was in the middle of a culinary
competition...waiting for the judges to finish
scoring, absolutely nothing I could do and WAAAAAAAAY
too much energy.  One of my Chefs had arranged a class
on Tea, I took it to get my mind off things.  When the
man poured me a cup of (no I'm not kidding this is
what the tea is called) "Finest Jasmine Pearls", I
breathed deep the vapors, sipped the golden elixir and
felt every thread of tension leave my body.  It was
quite possibly the greatest tea moment of my life.
Little hand tied tea leaves with jasmine blossoms,
aaaaaaaahhhhhhh.

Pieces and facts - tea has one fourth to one fifth the
caffeine of coffee.  Brew time is generally determined
by the depth of oxidization and size of the tea.  A
general rule (and your own palate is the true rule) is
that white teas should be barely steeped (30 seconds)
in 175 to 185 f water, greens should be steeped 30-45
seconds in 185 to 190 degree water, oolongs should be
steeped 1-3 minutes in 190 degree water, blacks should
be steeped 195-200 degree water and pu-erhs should be
steeped 3-5 minutes in rolling boiling water.  Again a
guide your taste is your taste.  But given this we can
see why I personally don't like a waitress to put a
teabag in for me...of course I don't like things that
come in most of those bags.  I have to thank Chef Bob
Wemischner on this one, I got this out of his book, I
don't drink every kind of tea.
And to those of you who have an opportunity I have to
recommend Chado (the way of tea)a tea house and shop
in Los Angeles.  Mr. Shah sells teas of incredible
quantity.  When you buy $15.00 an ounce tea you feel a
bit like it should come in a brown paper bag and that
you should watch for the cops when you leave :) But oh
that wondrous cup in front of the fire!  There are
also more normal priced teas, but sometimes even I
splurge.
Also if you are into cooking with tea I recommend
"Cooking with Tea" (big surprise huh?) by Robert
Wemischner and Diana Rosin, if you like bergamot the
Earl Grey Truffles are to die for.
Okay I've given my shameless plug for the day.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Alessandra

=====
"Optimism is a force multiplier."  Colin Powell


Always remember, stressed is just desserts spelled backwards :)

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