Tasteful tea tales
By I. M. Soni

THE Burmese pickle its leaves and eat them as a salad. The Thais steam and ferment the leaves, then add salt, garlic and hog fat to form a kind of chewing gum. Tibetans break off chunks and throw them into boiling, salted water to which they add a hunk of yak’s ghee.

In UK, people sip a strong, sweetened tea laced with milk and sugar. Full-bodied and fast infusing teas are in heavy demand in England.

Russians prefer an amber coloured, sweet tea flavoured with lemon and served in an 8-ounce glass. Ask for a slice of lemon for your tea in a Russian restaurant and the price is doubled.

Iran and Turkey use only sugar as flavouring in their 3-and-4-ounce tea glasses. China, like Japan, remains devoted to unflavoured green teas.

France introduced cream and milk mixtures for tea. In 1657, Frenchmen smoked the new "tobacco" convinced it was a cure for gout.

Soon after Princess Catherine of Portugal married Charles II, she sponsored lavish tea parties at court. Women were enamoured of the exotic liquid, some even neglected their husbands to attend these parties.

Nowhere is tea so idealised and glorified as in Japan where green teas, rich in vitamins A and C, are favoured. The serving of tea in Japanese manner, exemplified harmony, reverence, purity and calm.

Most homes have a separate tea-room that is constructed of the finest materials often costing more per square for than the sacred temples. Or the entire rest of the house. Elaborate tea houses, enclosed by exquisite gardens, rate priority in crowded cities.

In the Mediaeval Ages, tea was a rich man’s luxury and was worth its weight in gold. It was only in the 19th century that tea alighted from its lofty perch and a few leaves could be found in the poor man’s kettle, also. But it is only in the 20th century that tea has been acclaimed as the undisputed king of beverages. Every time is tea time.

Some of the world’s eminent personalities have courted it. But none was more attached to it than Dr Johnson. He liked nothing better than a kettle of tea.

The late Krishna Menon consumed about 40 cups a day. Maulana Azad kept a variety of tea leaves for different occasions. He was particularly fond of green tea. Film star late Raaj Kumar was a devotee of ginger tea.

In cold countries, people drink tea all the day and night. In UK, the kettle is always boiling. The popularity of the brew is growing so fast that Indians now have almost formed the habit taking it after meals. Lassi and milk are poor or outlawed cousins now.

Some prefer strong tea, others weak. Some drink it neat while others because it contains milk and sugar. Some put tea in milk, while others milk in tea.

The truck drivers in our country have earned the reputation of being strong tea-takers. It is called the seven-mile tea. It gives them a ‘kick’, they claim.

Tea has become so much a part of our life that to think a tealess life is depressing. It will mean an end to tea-parties and other functions where the brew dominates.

Non-availability of tea when you "thirsting" for it makes you put up your heckles. During my visit to Thailand, we asked for tea at a fast food joint in a big shopping mart. We drew a blank. We brought it to the notice of a family we knew. They laughed and said, "In future, ask for "chai."

If a cup of steaming tea along with your morning newspaper is missing, it makes you feel you have not started the day.

Some people are so fussy about the ingredients’ ratio and proportion of tea leaves, sugar, milk (or lemon) ilaichi that carry their own flasks wherever they go. They cannot stand the "muddy" brew served to them.

A new tea culture has emerged and firmly established in especially in offices and homes. Employees reach office an hour late, clear table of the last evening’s litter. It is 11 a.m. which is tea time. It is "official" because the boss himself is sipping the sweet syrupy liquid — most probably with his secretary.

At home my wife and I, when fenced off in silent zone often break the ice by talking about hot tea. Hot tea breaks the ice. Tea is as good an ice-breaker as weather.

Whether you drive a truck or a trolley, a Maruti or a Matador, push a pen or a plough, you can seldom resist the temptation of stopping at a wayside dhaba for a glass of chai.

Tea has also been associated with cold cure. It is said that a few drops of honey, rum and lemon added to steaming tea is a sure-cure of the cold. I have tried it myself. It did not cure me but it made the cold enjoyable!