[Sca-cooks] Chai, was Introduction and Question

[Daniel Myers]

You left out "shrimp scampi".


Quoted from lilinah at earthlink.net - 5/13/02, 10:15 AM -0700:
>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"
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 Edouard Halidai (Daniel Myers)
 I BELIEVE! http://www.bookofrefreshments.com
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