[Sca-cooks] Chai, was Introduction and Question

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Chai in Italy in period? Moo-ooo. (explanation below)

Chai is a word that means "tea". That's it. That's all it means.
(Related to Chinese"cha", source of the word for tea in many
languages, including our own)

I gag and mutter abusive language under my breath every time i see a
package of "chai tea". That's just redundant. Think a pound of coffee
coffee or a dozen eggs eggs or a quart of milk milk or a can of beer
beer.

What is being touted these days as "chai" is actually *masala* chai,
which basically means "spiced tea". By Indians it's often called
"railway tea" because it's sold by vendors at train stations in
India. It's made with black tea, a bunch of spices, sugar and milk.
NO VANILLA, dammit!!! although that is often in modern American
pre-prepared "chai tea" (patooey).

The exact proportions and spices vary, but the spices most commonly
found together in a chai masala (that is "tea spices" - as opposed to
"masala chai", that is, "spiced tea") are:

green or white cardamom pods (generally you use the seeds, after crushing them)
stick cinnamon
whole cloves
fennel seed (written as soanph or soonf in some South Asian recipes)
sliced fresh ginger root
whole black or white peppercorns

It's easy to make one's own. In fact, there's an entire website
devoted to the stuff:
http://www.odie.org/chai/

Typically you boil the spices in water for around 5 min., then add
the black tea, milk and sugar and boil (yes, boil) for a few more
minutes, strain, and serve.

Is it "period"? I don't know. It's possible... in *South Asia*. It
got to the British Isles after the English colonized South Asia,
maybe in the 19th c., but no sooner and possible later. But Italy? In
the Renaissance? Nope, sorry. And to the best of my knowledge there
was no tea in Europe until the 17th century.

Now, don't misunderstand. If it's what you really really want to
drink in the AM, go ahead. Me, i want some good strong coffee, and
while i mostly eat "period" food at our camping events, i do make a
pot of coffee in the AM, even though it's late period for the Near
East and OOP for Europe.

Anahita
who like masala chai, but gets really annoyed by "chai tea" and even
more by "chai tea" with vanilla

Why moo-ooo? The basic structure here is a local Berkeley joke.
There's a dairy distributor here called "Berkeley Farms" and their
ads say, "Farms? In Berkeley? Moo-ooo"