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For some tea drinkers – present company included – a cup of tea is just fine and nothing more is needed. We drink our tea, sometimes in copious and staggering amounts, but that is all. Other tea lovers might want to take things a step further and do such things as incorporating tea into their food. This is not a new concept but it’s one that seems to be gaining in popularity along with the general upswing of interest in fine foods and specialty tea. If you doubt the level of interest in this topic, consider that there are actually restaurants scattered throughout Asia whose menus are comprised exclusively of tea-related dishes.
Of the smattering of cookbooks that have popped up to fill this niche, Cynthia Gold and Lise Stern’s Culinary Tea is the most recent. Gold, a tea sommelier (yes, that’s right, sommeliers are not just for wine anymore) at The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, brings a considerable amount of experience to her topic and even claims to be “one of the first chefs practicing ‘culinary tea’ in the United States.”
Part One of the book is devoted to Understanding Tea, with a chapter that sketches out the historical precedents for using tea as an ingredient in cooking. The next few chapters take a look at the fundamentals of tea. It’s a section will be especially useful to newcomers to the world of tea but will probably be something of a review for old hands. Part Two of the book, not surprisingly, takes a look at the Techniques of Cooking With Tea and presents the 150 recipes (and then some), broken out into the categories of Starters, Entrees, Desserts and Tea Beverages.
As the title promises the recipes featured in here have an international theme, which seems fitting for a product that is produced and consumed in various ways around the world. Among the assorted and sundry of the many interesting recipes are a Jasmine Tea Chicken Soup, Rosy Green Tea Truffles, a Banana-Blueberry Smoothie, Chinese Tea-Smoked Duck, Smoked Tea-Brined Capon, Assam Shortbread and Thousand-Year Old Eggs. Aspiring tea chefs will be glad to know that this latter item, a popular delicacy in some parts of Asia, can be prepared in quite a bit less than one thousand years. But patience is still a virtue.
Don’t miss William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks!
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Drink tea. Sure. Eat tea? Why not?
As we pointed out in an article in these pages not so long ago, tea is not just for drinking. It can also be used as an ingredient in a wide assortment of recipes, including sweet and savory dishes. If you’re looking for more information about this subject, here are a few more books that will offer some insight.
Cooking With Tea: Techniques and Recipes for Appetizers, Entrees, Desserts, and More
by Robert Wemischner & Diana Rosen
Wemischner and Rosen have included more than 100 recipes for tea dishes in this volume. Also included, an assortment of useful information on tea and food pairings, tidbits of tea history and general background information.
Tea Cuisine: A New Approach to Flavoring Contemporary and Traditional Dishes
by Joanna Pruess & John Harney
Tea Cuisine is a revised edition of Pruess and Harney’s 2001 book, Eat Tea: Savory and Sweet Dishes Flavored with the World’s Most Versatile Ingredient. It features a number of tea-themed recipes, a Tea 101, of sorts, and assorted and sundry information about tea. If the name Harney sounds familiar, it’s probably because of his connection with tea merchant, Harney & Sons.
The Ultimate Tea Diet: How Tea Can Boost Your Metabolism, Shrink Your Appetite, and Kick-Start Remarkable Weight Loss
by Mark Ukra, Sharyn Kolberg
From Mark “Dr. Tea” Ukra, The Ultimate Tea Diet is not a cookbook, in the strictest sense of the word, and perhaps it goes a bit overboard on the connection between tea and weight loss. But it does include an assortment of tea recipes and, of course, plenty of advice on how to use tea as part of a weight loss plan.
New Tastes in Green Tea: A Novel Flavor for Familiar Drinks, Dishes, and Desserts
By Mutsuko Tokunaga
As the title would suggest, New Tastes In Green Tea primarily deals with beverages and various dishes made with green tea. As with the majority of the other books mentioned in this article, it also features sections on tea history and background information.
Cooking with Green Tea: Delicious Dishes Enhanced by the Miraculous Healing Powers of Green Tea
By Ying Chang Compestine
Even more on green tea and cuisine. This one, once again, as the title suggests, comes at the topic by taking a closer look at the alleged health benefits for this popular beverage.
Don’t miss William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks!
Of the assorted and sundry tea magazines currently available to readers, one of the most intriguing might turn out to be The Leaf. Though it has only published online editions thus far – and will presumably continue in this vein – it has turned out seven issues of excellent content that has been focused primarily on Chinese tea, with occasional forays into other territory. For more on these first seven issues refer to our brief overview or head to The Leaf’s home base itself and dig into the archives.
While you’re there, of course, you’ll notice that Issue 8 is now available. Once again, publisher Aaron Fisher and a cast of luminaries from the tea world have conspired to bring us another collection of great articles on tea drinking and culture. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while and Fisher’s name sounds familiar it might be from our review of his recent book, The Way Of Tea. The author describes this volume as “my reflections on tea — its history, development and preparation over time — from an intuitive perspective.”
It should come as no surprise that the contemplative nature of Fisher’s book and the tendency to focus on the more spiritual aspects of tea drinking carries over to The Leaf. Among the many highlights in this latest edition of the magazine include another installment of Gong Fu Tea Tips and an examination by Jennifer Sauer of the attraction that teaware holds for so many serious tea drinkers.
The River Of Tea, by Elijiah Scidmore, is a great find that hearkens back to 1889 and which finds the author discussing the tea-related aspects of his travels through Hong Kong and China. There’s also a piece of tea-themed fiction, the usual assortment of great photos and much more. So be sure to check it out.
Make sure to visit William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks!
If you’ve never had the opportunity to read The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide, by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, you’d be advised to take a look at this entertaining and informative volume. Check out this review of the book.
If you’ve already tackled The Story of Tea, or if you’re just looking for a great guide to the fundamentals of tea and tea drinking, then be sure to consult The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook, by the same authors. Heiss and Heiss have been in the premium tea business for more than three decades and they bring their experience to bear in this very practical guide.
The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook blends this practical knowledge with details on the ins and outs of buying, brewing, and sampling each of the six classes of tea – green, yellow, white, black, oolong and pu-erh. The book kicks off with an introduction, which takes a compressed look at some of the more in-depth material the authors have covered elsewhere.
Chapter One provides the reader with a practical guide to purchasing tea, which includes specifics on the various ways to evaluate tea as well as what the difference is between such types as single-estate and blended teas. Of course, you can buy the best tea the market has to offer and it won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t know how to prepare it properly. All of the many variables that go into bringing out the flavor of your tea are covered in Chapter Two – Steeping The Perfect Cup.
From here, it’s on to the bulk of the book, a chapter devoted to each of the six main categories of tea. While great for novice and intermediate tea drinkers and students, even more advanced tea lovers are likely to find some new tidbits of information here. Top it off with a chapter on tea storage and you’ve got what the publisher accurately refers to as a “concise and authoritative guide to the world of fine tea.”
Don’t forget to check out William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks.
One of the most respected tea companies around is Harney & Sons. Their teas are known for having a fine and consistent quality. A good bit of news is that Michael Harney, one of the owners, has written an authoritative guide to teas, appropriately titled The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea.
The book is woefully lacking in photos of verdant tea fields, tea “liquors” of various hues, and arrays of teapots that grace the pages of other tea books. In fact, there isn’t a single photo. Never fear, though, because it’s jammed with tons of “insider information” on teas and a must for anyone wanting to impress others with their tea knowledge. It’s good for making more informed tea purchases, too, and for getting the most out of your tea experience. For example, I learned that the Assam I had just finished off was a lower quality than the golden tips Assam I bought recently. (Haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but based on this book, I feel sure that a truly exceptional tea tasting experience is in store.)
The book is quite well-organized and covers the spectrum that is tea. Within each tea chapter, Harney gives information about a particular type of tea and then examples of teas in that category.
Chapters include:
- How to Use This Book (includes information on how to prepare and enjoy your teas)
- White Teas
- Chinese Green Teas
- Japanese Green Teas
- Oolongs
- Yellow Teas
- Chinese Black Teas
- British Legacy Black Teas
- Puerhs
- The Future of Tea
Gee, I already learned a lot just from reading the Table of Contents! For example, did you know there was a difference between green teas from China and from Japan? Makes sense. The growing conditions and how the harvested tea leaves are processed are different. Also, did you know that tea from the Darjeeling province in India is graded by when it’s harvested during the growing season? There is Spring First Flush (floral and fruity like Oolongs), Summer Second Flush, and Autumn Flush. (I’ll be reviewing samples of the last two in the next few weeks.)
The book not only has such interesting details as these on each category of tea, there are tables on specific teas that cover things you need to know:
- Name of tea
- Rating of tea
- Brewing temperature
- Brewing time
- Dry leaves
- Liquor (the liquid that results from the steeping)
- Body
- Flavors
This is accompanied by information about the tea, including the growers.
Frankly, this is one tea book I wouldn’t part with any more than I would part with my favorite teas. It’s small enough to be part of my kitchen tea station, ever handy for making sure I’m treating my teas with the respect they deserve. Happy reading!
Thinking about trying a new tea? Not sure which one to buy? Head over to A.C.’s blog, Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews, where you’ll find lots of great reviews of a wide variety of teas!
by William I. Lengeman III
If you’re in the market for a few more titles for your shelf of tea books, here are some suggestions.
Tea Cookbook
by Tonia George
If you didn’t realize that cooking with tea was even an option, there’s no better time to get your hands on a copy of Tonia George’s Tea Cookbook. It presents a selection of tea-oriented recipes in both sweet and savory varieties.
The Ancient Tea Horse Road: Travels With the Last of the Himalayan Muleteers
by Jeff Fuchs
You’re likely to find The Ancient Tea Horse Road stashed in the travel section of your local library or bookstore. But, as the title suggests, tea forms an important part of this particular travel narrative. For more information on this 6,000 kilometer trading route and Fuchs’ book, look here. The author also put together an illustrated travelogue of his route for an article that appeared in the Montreal Gazette.
Tea Bliss: Infuse Your Life with Health, Wisdom, and Contentment
by Theresa Cheung
Serious tea fanciers don’t really need to be convinced that tea has the ability to generate bliss. For those who haven’t caught on yet, there’s Theresa Cheung’s book. Tea offers, if we’re to believe the book’s publisher, “a simple antidote to just about everything.” Wow.
The Spirit of Tea
by Frank Hadley Murphy
It’s certainly not an unusual concept for someone to suggest that tea drinking and culture have a spiritual or contemplative component. It’s this “transcendental nature” of the tea experience that Frabk Hadley Murphy explores in more depth in The Spirit of Tea. Also included, some background information on tea history, myths about tea and more.
The Way to Tea: Your Adventure Guide to San Francisco Tea Culture
by Jennifer Leigh Sauer
If you’re going to San Francisco – skip the flowers in your hair and take along a copy of Sauer’s book. She calls it “a creative tribute to and appraisal of an exhilarating journey through the labyrinth of San Francisco tea culture.”
Make sure to check out William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks, for more on all things tea!
