Saturday TeaRoom 8/15/09 Fave Food Today?

[Chip]

Happy TeaDay everyone. You are invited to come in and share what is in your cup today.

Yesterday we discussed whether too much teaware variety can be a bad thing. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today is a TeaRoom TeaDay. We get off the TeaTopic for a change and learn a little something about each other. This was asked quite some time ago, but there are a lot of newer members and our tastes change. TODAY, do you have a fave food dish? What would it be and would you prepare it homemade?

I am looking forward to sharing the TeaRoom with everyone today. Eat what you like, like what you eat.

[Salsero]

I have eaten more Twinkies lately that I would like to admit. But aside from that recent quirk, I generally I like all food, especially things that are a little out of the ordinary and well prepared.

Thanks to Steve and Bill for the gift of this unusual production: an oolong from Japan. It seems to be pretty roasted, the dry leaf smelling like chocolate and the infused broth distinctly woody. While it is not something I would order again, I am very happy to have tried it. Still on deck: Victoria’s kind sample of a Japanese black, also from Yuuki-Cha. Once before I had a Japanese black and that one was premo leaf, so I am excited.

[Maitre_Tea]

I've always had an obsession with tomatoes and basil dressed w/olive oil and pepper/salt, but it's been my favorite food of the summer because my tomatoes are beginning to ripen and heirloom tomatoes are slowly showing up in the markets. If I could have that, a well-baked crusty baguette, and some tea ... life would be so perfect

Finishing up a session of the Tea Gallery's Shi Lan. Their Wuyi have seriously changed my perception of what Wuyi can taste like...simply amazing. I'm letting the last infusion be an overnight one, just to see what can happen in 12 hours.

[Herb_Master]

Of course in the UK, except in households where Luncheon is followed by Dinner, Tea is a meal of the Day.

There can be afternoon Tea, with dainty cakes served on tiered, doily covered stands, or sumptuous Scones, Strawberries and Cornish Clotted cream. This may be taken with delicate indian teas, or something maybe a little more robust.

However my favourite memories are of High Tea taken each Sunday after my grandfather died. Grandmother loved to be taken out for a drive in the country, and living in the Lake District what was better than to finish the Sunday drive by a Farmhouse tea. Negotiating roads without cattle grids, there were lots of gates to open and close on the moorland roads in the 1950s, and our car had a running board so I travelled on the running board between gates.

The farmer's wives would supplement the household income by serving tea. Usually a plate breaking collection of farm produce groaning under the title of Farmhouse Grill. Gammmon, Lamb Chop, Cumberland Sausage, Tomatoes, Chips and a couple of Fried eggs.

The changes varied from Farm to Farm, Peas, Mushrooms, Liver, Kidney, Veal Chop and homemade cumberland sauce all made their appearance, and sometimes the meal was finished with a fantastic home made apple pie. The farmyards differed from clean and cobbled, to muck filled and hay strewn. The accompanying sounds varied from mewing and mooing to bellowing, crowing and neighing, but one thing that never varied was as much bread and butter as you wanted, with pot after pot of delicious. strong tea served in those days of course with sugar and milk straight from the cow.

[Drax]

Mmmmm, some great stuff. I've been enjoying something similar to Maitre Tea -- mozzarella and tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper (no basil, as I never got around to having my own ready-to-grab source).

But my favorite is probably chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I enjoy lots of different types of food, and making them as well (chili, crab, sushi, seafood, pasta, pizza, lasagna, guacamole, etc, etc), but I think the ice cream is probably the only thing that I actually miss.

No tea yet this morning. I need to dive into the pile of stuff waiting on top of my pumidor... sounds terrible, doesn't it?

[Riene]

Drax, Herb Master, and Maitre Tea, you all are making me hungry.

Yunnan Noir in my cup this morning, mmmm.

[Carl]

Thai larb salad (either chicken or beef) - very spicy and with a side bowl of sticky rice and a glass of Thai ice tea. It always makes me very sad to come to the end of the meal.

In the tea bowl this morning is my second attempt at brewing a 2009 Norbu Lao Mansa Sheng Pu Erh.

[Salsero]

Herb_Master, thanks for another wonderful reminiscence. It may sound like standard issue to you, but to us in the US it sounds quite exotic and romantic! Actually, I'm starting to suspect that you are just making up a lot of this ...

In the tea bowl this morning is my second attempt at brewing a 2009 Norbu Lao Mansa Sheng Pu Erh.

I would be curious to know if you are able make any statements about this tea or about Norbu in general. I have seen the shop on line but have never purchased anything.

[geeber1]

There are so many different favorites that it's hard to pick just one!
Arroz con Pollo, Chicken Mole, Gyros, Pad Thai, Fried Chicken, the list goes on and on! I have attempted to make a few of these things, but some seem a little overwhelming, like the gigantic meat log needed for Gyros.

A 3rd steep of the tasty Darjeeling sample I discovered last night - still good but I think it's done.

[Intuit]

Warm season is for grilling because it's so easy to prepare and avoids heating up my galley kitchen. Lean pork, chicken, fish or shrimp with a couple of skewers of marinated veggies. Sometimes, I'll make a curry for a side dish, with lashings of fresh cucumber-and lemon laced yogurt to cool the palate. I've toyed with grilling Nan bread to make an Asian wrap with the BBQed meat and veggies.

Two years ago, a couple of clever pipefitters designed and made up a dozen clamp-on stands that fit perfectly on walkway banisters here. They provide a safe platform for hibachi grills, a blessing indeed for those of us on 2nd or 3rd floor apts that lack a proper deck for outdoor living. I grabbed one when it became available last week (word of mouth only, they're mostly passed back and forth by the plant construction crew who make up the motherlode of inhabitants here).

No-name Ceylon estate tea on this sunny and cooler PNW morning.

[Victoria]

Thanks to Steve and Bill for the gift of this unusual production: an oolong from Japan. It seems to be pretty roasted, the dry leaf smelling like chocolate and the infused broth distinctly woody. While it is not something I would order again, I am very happy to have tried it. Still on deck: Victoria’s kind sample of a Japanese black, also from Yuuki-Cha. Once before I had a Japanese black and that one was premo leaf, so I am excited.

Looks quite good Sal! I just ordered this one, as it made its appearance immediately after I placed my last order from Yuuki-Cha. Looks interesting!

[Carl]

Hi Salsero.

I can make comments about both the tea and Norbu, but I'm not sure they have much worth. I'm very green to both the tea journey and to tea chat.

The puerh was part of a tea sampler from Norbu:
-Ya Bao Wild White Tea-50g
-Single Bud Bi Luo Chun Green Tea-50g
-Yunnan Mao Feng Green Tea-50g
-Huang Jin Gui Oolong Tea-50g
-Norbu Lao Mansa Sheng Pu Erh Tea-25g

I really like the white tea and intend to order more of this as it has an interesting melon like taste as commented on by a reviewer at Norbu. The two green teas were okay, but probably fell victim to my lack of brewing skill and experience. I'm saving the oolong in this sample for later, after I've experimented more and developed better understanding and skill. Norbu included a sample of their Taiwan Alishan High Mountain Oolong - Spring Harvest 09 in my 2nd order and a sample of their 2008 Yi Wu Mountain Bamboo Roasted Pu-Erh in my last order.

The Lao Mansa Sheng Pu Erh has a roasted smell and contains leaves and some stems. After two washings of 15 seconds, the tea had a very pleasing golden color with a slightly medicinal smell and taste, becoming more vegetal with subsequent steepings. There is a nice slightly sweet after taste. This puerh seem more robust than their Yi Wu Mountain Pu Erh which was very accessible and much less medicinal. I tend to think of puerh from these two samples as being a type of digestif, which I really quite like.

Norbu was recommended by the tea guy at Central Market in Dallas. Because he was very helpful and spent a lot of time with me, I took his recommendation seriously. I ordered the sample and some teaware from Norbu and had a great communication and customer service experience. I believe the owner is English and goes to China for many of their selections.

They have rapidly expanded both their tea and teaware offerings since I first viewed their website last month. I am really quite pleased with having a local tea source and as a beginning tea traveler like the fact that my orders arrive so quickly. I feel the customer service is superior and that Norbu is genuinely trying to expand 'tea consciousness' by providing a good product.

I don't have any other experiences ordering Chinese tea as most of my tea experimentation has been through O-Cha and their Kagoshima Sencha Sae Midori and Kagoshima Sencha Yutaka Midori. My only other teaware experience has been with Toru at Artistic Nippon and he sets the standard very high indeed!

Kind regards,
Carl

[Chip]

One fave dish that has remained a top pick for me forever is pan seared sea scallops. I like to do this one myself, in fact I never order scallops while eating out. They must be "dry scallops" which means no added water, juices or preservatives ... and must be super fresh. Just the scallop. I am very picky about scallops! The sauce is simply recovered juices from the pan after pouring in a little white wine after cooking. Great with rice and fresh steamed veggies. Yummm.

Either that, or sushi/sashimi which would actually be refreshing on a hot day like today.

Began the TeaDay with Yutaka Midori from O-Cha. SweeTea was front and center for a cuppa green while Fuji, Pyrit, and Gandalf just visited.

[Salsero]

I just ordered this one

Don't get too excited by this one. I am drinking the black now and it is every bit as good as the Tfactor Japanese black that SpaceSamurai shared with us a couple years ago, but the oolong ... well, you tell us what you think when it arrives.

I can make comments about both the tea and Norbu

Very useful comments on both. Thanks! Our former tea companion here SpaceSamurai was the tea guy at the Central Market in Fort Worth. Small world. He got too busy with other endeavors to spend much time with us lately, but his tea blog is still a great resource.

[Victoria]

I just ordered this one

Don't get too excited by this one. I am drinking the black now and it is every bit as good as the Tfactor Japanese black that SpaceSamurai shared with us a couple years ago, but the oolong ... well, you tell us what you think when it arrives.

Well being it is not on the greener side, it's a long shot anyway. Still looks interesting, always looking to try. Glad you are enjoying the black. It has become a morning favorite. Thanks for the link.