From early in my childhood, I have loved cookies. I remember sharing a glass of milk and chocolate covered Graham crackers with my father, a musician, when he came home from a "gig" at 2, 3, or 4 o'clock in the morning, Competing with my brother to see who could "steal' more Toll House cookies that my mother was baking or coming home from school to get some "Zebra" cookies, with swirls of chocolate and white dough or sugar "thumb - print" cookies, made with a thumb indentation in the middle that was filled with various jams that my mother made. In my later years , Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pat Lemay's shortbread were among my favorites.When I started working at Mumford's Culinary Center, I tasted several of Debbie Mumford's cookies. Debbie is a CIA trained Pastry Chef, the Chef co - owner of Mumford's and, in 2017, was voted "Outstanding Pastry Chef" by The Garden State Culinary Society's awards committee. Two of her cookies have been added to my 'favorite" cookie list; the Macadamia Toffee Chip and the Amazing Chocolate. Debbie has allowed me to print her recipes and has provided some short comments about how the cookie were derived or named. The recipes and the stories are presented below.
MACADAMIA TOFFEE CHIP COOKIES
" I am not sure where the original cookie recipe came from but I had an assistant and her husband was coming for lunch so we asked him to pick up some (plain) toffee chips to use in baking them.. He came with CHOCOLATE COVERED toffee pieces. We used them in our recipe and it was so good that we have used them ever since. This is how in this recipe was derived." DM
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 C butter, room temperature
1 C sugar
2/3 C light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C cake flour
2 C AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp, salt
2 C milk chocolate toffee chips
2 1/2 C macadamia nuts, chopped into large pieces
PROCEDURE
Heat over to 350 F. (300 F if using a convention oven)
1) Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy with no sugar crystals still visible.
2) Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating the first before adding the second. Incorporate the second.
3) Add vanilla, then dry ingredients, slowly, and mix until all combined.
4) Add toffee chips and nuts until incorporated and distributed throughout the dough.
*Scoop or spoon onto baking sheets and bake until lightly brown, 20 - 25 minutes. Remove and cool before serving.
THE AMAZING CHOCOLATE COOKIE
"The Amazing Chocolate Cookie recipe came from "who knows", but the name came from an apprentice that I was working with who said "These are amazing.";
hence the name." DM
INGREDIENTS
2/3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 oz.(6 tbsp) unsalted butter
6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1 lb semi - sweet chocolate, chopped
5 eggs, room temperature
1 3/4 Csugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb milk chocolate, chopped
PROCEDURE
Preheat oven to 350 F. (300 if using a convection oven)
1) Mix flour, baking powder and salt
2) Melt unsweetened , semi - sweet chocolate and butter, mix
3) Whip eggs and sugar to until pale in color
4) Fold chocolate mixture with egg mixture
5) Add vanilla
6) Fold in flour mixture
7) Fold in milk chocolate
* Scoop or spoon onto baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.
These cookies break easily so allow them to cool completely before removing from baking sheet.
* Debbie makes these cookies in large size, 3 inches in diameter. You will have to adjust the size of your scoops or spoonfuls to give cookies of the size you desire.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
FOOD HISTORY: Tea - Part 4 United States***
When tea is thought about in what was to become the
United States of America, the Boston Tea Party protest against high taxes on tea from England usually comes to most people’s mind.
However, tea was first brought by the Dutch who, in 1624, established a colony on
Manhattan Island which grew to encompass all of what is now New York City and
parts of Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey They named the settlement New
Netherland. The site was considered the optimal place by the Dutch West India Company
for them to carry on trade in the New World. To encourage colonization, the Dutch company offered
free land along the Hudson river. In 1626, a town was established on the
southern tip of Manhattan Island which was to become the capital of New
Netherland. It was named New Amsterdam after the Dutch capital city. When Peter
Stuyvesant became the Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam in 1647, he brought tea
with him and introduced it to the colonists. Since the Dutch were confirmed
drinkers of high quality of both Chinese and Japanese teas called “Bai Hao” in
Chinese, which means, “white tip”, the Dutch colonists readily adapted tea
drinking. (The Chinese word, “Bai Hao” had been corrupted by the Dutch to
“Pekoe” and because the best quality tea was presented to the Dutch royalty,
the highest grades of tea reserved for the royalty were called “Orange Pekoe” since the Dutch royal
lineage came from the House of Orange). England and the Netherlands were both
maritime powers in the 17th century and several wars occurred between them. One
of these wars took place in 1664 and involved New Netherland where a British
fleet appeared off New Amsterdam and forced Stuyvesant to surrender. New
Amsterdam came under British rule. The name was changed to New York, when King
Charles II awarded the Dutch colonies to his brother, the Duke of York. When the
British settlers arrived in the colonies, they found that the small Dutch
settlements consumed more tea, at that time, than the whole of England. It was
not until 1670 that the English colonists in Boston became aware of tea and it
was not available for sale until 20 years later. However, by 1720 tea was an
accepted trade staple between England and the colonies. The tea trade centered
around Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Because English tea was very heavily
taxed a “Black Market” flourished with tea smuggled in by enterprising
merchants. This angered the British East India Company, England’s tea trading
organization and they petitioned Parliament for relief. Parliament responded
by imposing even higher tea taxes over a several years period. Finally, it
became too much for the colonists and, on December 16, 1773, a group, of
patriots from the Sons of Liberty organization dressed as American Indians,
boarded three ships in Boston harbor and threw a cargo of tea into Boston
Harbor. This not only set the events of the American revolution into motion but
it turned Americans away from tea and into coffee drinking. While tea started
to be traded slowly again by the United States after the revolution, a 2014
market research study still confirmed that Americans still preferred coffee by
a three to one margin. Tea, however, owing to more recent information about its
health benefits, appears to be growing in popularity, particularly among young
Americans. According to the US Tea Association, the wholesale value of the USA
tea industry increased from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 10.8 billion in 2014.
Thursday, December 28, 2017
FOOD HISTORY: TEA: Part 3 - Western Europe
Portugal was the first European
country whose sailors successfully traveled around the tip of Africa and into
the Indian Ocean basin in search of trade in the East. By 1513, a Portuguese
captain, called Jorge Alvares, had reached China. In 1560, the Portuguese Jesuit
priest, Father Jasper de Cruz traveling by caravan between Portugal and China
was the first European, personally, to taste tea and write back to Portugal
about it. While the Portuguese had contact with China since 1513, it took Portugal two decades more to receive permission from the Ming
Dynasty Emperor to anchor ships trading in tea in the harbors around the Chinese settlement of
Macau in southern China. Portuguese traders and sailors had to return to their
ships each night, and they could not build any structures on Chinese soil. In
1552, however, China granted the Portuguese permission to build drying and storage sheds
for tea in the area now named Nam Van, in Macau. Finally, in 1557, by
helping the Chinese defeat pirates who were praying on Chinese shipping,
Portugal got permission to establish a trading settlement in Macau. It took
almost 45 years of inch-by-inch negotiation, but the Portuguese finally had a
real foothold in southern China. The Portuguese established a trade route by
which they shipped their tea to Lisbon where tea was readily accepted by the
Portuguese. However, because of the high price it could be afforded only by the
wealthy or royalty. As we will see later, this fact had an impact on the spread
of tea drinking to Great Britain.
From Lisbon, the Portuguese contracted with the ships of the Dutch East India company to transport the tea to France, Holland and the Baltic countries. While tea never caught on in France, Portugal was affiliated with Holland at that time, and tea became popular among the Dutch. Dutch sailors on the ships transporting tea from Portugal to Holland saw the value of this tea trade and encouraged Dutch merchants to enter the trade and by-pass Portugal. In 1602, a combination of mercantile organizations in the Netherlands formed the Dutch East India Company to compete with colonial trade in Asia, particularly against the Portuguese. It was built and organized around the prospect of monopolizing the lucrative spice trade of pepper, cloves and mace, which had made them so profitable. To do this. they conquered and controlled 30 settlements throughout Asia and the entire archipelago of what is now Indonesia. Since the Dutch East India Company had huge resources of money, with their comfortable financial advantage, they took over the Asian trade at the expense of Portugal. However, the value of these possessions was rapidly reduced when Europe’s demand shifted from spices to tea, which was not found in Indonesia.
While the Dutch were the first to bring tea, directly, to European countries, their slow reaction to the new European demand for tea allowed their main competitor, the British, to make major inroads in the tea trade thru The British East India Company. However, the British did not embrace tea, initially, since coffee was the preferred drink of men in British coffee houses. Slowly, the fad of drinking tea caught on with English women as a healthy and genteel drink. The rise in tea’s popularity and consumption was increased in 1657 when Thomas Galloway started to sell imported Dutch tea, as well as coffee, in his coffee house. Other coffee shops soon followed. An additional and more major factor in the increased popularity of tea in Britain occurred when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza in 1662. She brought her Portuguese love of tea with her and introduced its drinking into the British court. To please King Charles II, the British East India Company brought gifts of tea from Europe in 1664 and 1666 for Catherine but they did not consider tea worth importing from China. England was the last European country to use its maritime power to trade for tea. In 1600, the British East India company was given a royal charter to use British sea power to compete for the valuable spice trade in southeast Asia and China but not for tea.
While the company had a royal charter, it was not a governmental entity but the enterprise of a band of London businessmen/capitalists using their own ships to compete with the Portuguese and the Dutch. The company, with its royal charter, acted as an imperial arm of England and exercised significant political power which helped create a wealthy and powerful British Empire. This included not only trading for spices but the right to annex land, direct troops and dictate British laws. The company’s encounters with foreign competitors lead to its assembling its own military and administrative departments and it became an imperial power of its own. As stated above, in the early to mid-1600’s, it became the dominant trading power and monopolized the spice trade in southeast Asia until 1668. Tea only became a serious trading commodity in 1669. In 1669 tea imports from Holland were prohibited by the English government and the British East India Company had a monopoly over all tea imports to England and, also, the tea trade with China. By 1686, tea became a large part of the British East India's regular trading, was selling in English markets and by the 18th century, not only was tea the common drink of England replacing ale, but tea changed English dietary norms, as well. (see previous post: FOOD HISTORY: British Tea Traditions, 5/27/2015). The Company had trading stations in India where it had introduced tea drinking and growing in 1774, and created, rather than conquered, colonies, such as, Singapore and Ceylon. Thus, the company was expanding the British Empire without the British government being involved. Finally, the British government reigned it in 1773 by creating a government controlled policy making body. Further, in 1813, at the urging of the British free-trade lobbyists, the government took away the company’s monopoly and after 1834, it worked only as the government’s agency until the government took full control in 1857.
In over it's 150 years of time of operation, the British East India Company not only greatly expanded the British Empire but changed the whole English culture, based on tea trading and tea drinking.
From Lisbon, the Portuguese contracted with the ships of the Dutch East India company to transport the tea to France, Holland and the Baltic countries. While tea never caught on in France, Portugal was affiliated with Holland at that time, and tea became popular among the Dutch. Dutch sailors on the ships transporting tea from Portugal to Holland saw the value of this tea trade and encouraged Dutch merchants to enter the trade and by-pass Portugal. In 1602, a combination of mercantile organizations in the Netherlands formed the Dutch East India Company to compete with colonial trade in Asia, particularly against the Portuguese. It was built and organized around the prospect of monopolizing the lucrative spice trade of pepper, cloves and mace, which had made them so profitable. To do this. they conquered and controlled 30 settlements throughout Asia and the entire archipelago of what is now Indonesia. Since the Dutch East India Company had huge resources of money, with their comfortable financial advantage, they took over the Asian trade at the expense of Portugal. However, the value of these possessions was rapidly reduced when Europe’s demand shifted from spices to tea, which was not found in Indonesia.
While the Dutch were the first to bring tea, directly, to European countries, their slow reaction to the new European demand for tea allowed their main competitor, the British, to make major inroads in the tea trade thru The British East India Company. However, the British did not embrace tea, initially, since coffee was the preferred drink of men in British coffee houses. Slowly, the fad of drinking tea caught on with English women as a healthy and genteel drink. The rise in tea’s popularity and consumption was increased in 1657 when Thomas Galloway started to sell imported Dutch tea, as well as coffee, in his coffee house. Other coffee shops soon followed. An additional and more major factor in the increased popularity of tea in Britain occurred when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza in 1662. She brought her Portuguese love of tea with her and introduced its drinking into the British court. To please King Charles II, the British East India Company brought gifts of tea from Europe in 1664 and 1666 for Catherine but they did not consider tea worth importing from China. England was the last European country to use its maritime power to trade for tea. In 1600, the British East India company was given a royal charter to use British sea power to compete for the valuable spice trade in southeast Asia and China but not for tea.
While the company had a royal charter, it was not a governmental entity but the enterprise of a band of London businessmen/capitalists using their own ships to compete with the Portuguese and the Dutch. The company, with its royal charter, acted as an imperial arm of England and exercised significant political power which helped create a wealthy and powerful British Empire. This included not only trading for spices but the right to annex land, direct troops and dictate British laws. The company’s encounters with foreign competitors lead to its assembling its own military and administrative departments and it became an imperial power of its own. As stated above, in the early to mid-1600’s, it became the dominant trading power and monopolized the spice trade in southeast Asia until 1668. Tea only became a serious trading commodity in 1669. In 1669 tea imports from Holland were prohibited by the English government and the British East India Company had a monopoly over all tea imports to England and, also, the tea trade with China. By 1686, tea became a large part of the British East India's regular trading, was selling in English markets and by the 18th century, not only was tea the common drink of England replacing ale, but tea changed English dietary norms, as well. (see previous post: FOOD HISTORY: British Tea Traditions, 5/27/2015). The Company had trading stations in India where it had introduced tea drinking and growing in 1774, and created, rather than conquered, colonies, such as, Singapore and Ceylon. Thus, the company was expanding the British Empire without the British government being involved. Finally, the British government reigned it in 1773 by creating a government controlled policy making body. Further, in 1813, at the urging of the British free-trade lobbyists, the government took away the company’s monopoly and after 1834, it worked only as the government’s agency until the government took full control in 1857.
In over it's 150 years of time of operation, the British East India Company not only greatly expanded the British Empire but changed the whole English culture, based on tea trading and tea drinking.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
FOOD HISTORY: TEA: Part 2 - Russia
While China had trade relations with Mongolia thru
Tibet for some, time trading goods with both of these countries for horses to be
used in spice trade caravans, tea was first officially traded with Mongolia in
the horse trading town of Kalgan in 1571. However, it wasn’t until after 1579
that tea was traded throughout Mongolia. This was an important event in the
spread of tea throughout Eurasia. In 1567, Russian Cossacks visited China and
tasted tea for the first time and in 1638, a Russian ambassador, Vasily
Starkov, brought a present of tea from a Mongolian Khan to the Tsar of
Russia. Later, in 1728, a Russian
settlement, Kyakhta, was established in Siberia on the border of Russian
Siberia and Mongolia. This became the center of China tea trade via Mongolia
between northern China and Russia over a very long caravan route through the
Gogi desert. This route became known as “The Tea Horse Road” extending tea
trading from China to the eastern boundaries of Europe.
Because the trade route between China and Russia was so treacherous, the cost of tea was very high and, therefore, only was available to royalty and the very wealthy. However, by the end of the 1700’s tea trade had increased, tea prices were reduced and tea was making its way into regular Russian society. While tea was appealing to much of Russian life style, because it was warm and hearty, for quite a long time, Russian women did not drink tea - they preferred traditional drinks to a hot and non-sweet foreign one. Further, the Russian Orthodox Church did not accept the drink at once either. However, a short time later, tea became an indispensable attribute of the monastic life - monks appreciated the ability of tea to sustain spiritual and physical strength. When the British, prominent customers for Chinese tea, were gradually shifting their purchases away from China to India and Ceylon, China became more interested in increasing tea trade with Russia. This was achieved when the Russian Trans Siberian Railways were constructed to cut across the vastness of Siberia to Mongolia and China, making the very long and expensive "Tea Horse Road" journey no longer necessary. This significantly reduced the cost of tea to the Russian people and increased both the demand and popularity of the drink. Over the years, tea became such a large part of Russian culture that a special device - a Samovar – was developed to heat and boil water for tea. Samovars are now very ornate and are kept in Russian homes in “a place of pride”. Next to vodka, tea is now the most popular drink in Russia and, today, Russia is among the top tea consuming countries in the world.
Because the trade route between China and Russia was so treacherous, the cost of tea was very high and, therefore, only was available to royalty and the very wealthy. However, by the end of the 1700’s tea trade had increased, tea prices were reduced and tea was making its way into regular Russian society. While tea was appealing to much of Russian life style, because it was warm and hearty, for quite a long time, Russian women did not drink tea - they preferred traditional drinks to a hot and non-sweet foreign one. Further, the Russian Orthodox Church did not accept the drink at once either. However, a short time later, tea became an indispensable attribute of the monastic life - monks appreciated the ability of tea to sustain spiritual and physical strength. When the British, prominent customers for Chinese tea, were gradually shifting their purchases away from China to India and Ceylon, China became more interested in increasing tea trade with Russia. This was achieved when the Russian Trans Siberian Railways were constructed to cut across the vastness of Siberia to Mongolia and China, making the very long and expensive "Tea Horse Road" journey no longer necessary. This significantly reduced the cost of tea to the Russian people and increased both the demand and popularity of the drink. Over the years, tea became such a large part of Russian culture that a special device - a Samovar – was developed to heat and boil water for tea. Samovars are now very ornate and are kept in Russian homes in “a place of pride”. Next to vodka, tea is now the most popular drink in Russia and, today, Russia is among the top tea consuming countries in the world.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
FOOD HISTORY: Tea; Part 1 - In the beginning: China, Asia and the Middle East)
Usually I publish posts in a regular, rotating sequence; Things I Like, Cooking Tips, Food Trivia and Food History. My last post was about Food Trivia, thus, this post is about Food History. However, since this history concerns a very large mass of information about TEA, from its beginnings to its spread around the world, the information is too much to put in only one post. Therefore, this post (Part 1; in the Beginning....) will be followed by three more posts about TEA. Part #2 will be about how tea and its drinking spread to and influenced Russia and its culture, Part #3 concerns the same about Western Europe and Part #4 covers how tea and its drinking spread to and influenced the history of the Dutch/British colonies that eventually became the United states.
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Next to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world and has a very interesting history. According to legend, tea was discovered in China, about 2737 BC, in the mountainous areas around Sichuan and Yunnan when leaves of an unidentified tree fell into the pot of boiling water that Emperor Shen Nung was preparing to drink. Intrigued by the pleasant scent of the brew, the Emperor tasted it and found it invigorated every part of his body, Further, because it cured him of a stomach ache, he ascribed medicinal properties to it, also. He named the brew "Ch'a", the Chinese character for, "to check", "investigate". Soon others started to drink Ch'a (tea) believing it beneficial to their health. Being a scarce and rare product, it was only consumed by the wealthy. However, the demand of the wealthy soon outstripped the supply of wild leaves. Therefore, farmers began to plant and grow tea and it became more available and its popularity grew. It started to be used not only for its medicinal qualities but for refreshment and pleasure, as well.
Over the years, tea was processed by various means and drunk in different manners. Very early, tea was made into bricks by steaming, crushing and pressing the ground green tea leaves into molds. To prepare tea, one pinched off a piece of the brick, put it into a tea bowl, added boiling water, allowed the ground tea to separate and infuse it's flavor into the water, after which it was ready to drink. People drank the tea from the same bowl in which it was prepared. However, this allowed the tea to cool quicker and drinkers had to keep refilling their bowls with hot water if they wanted to drink their tea hot. Later, during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), the preparation and the way tea was drunk was changed by the Emperor. He demanded that loose tea leaves, not bricks, be delivered to his court. From that point forward, tea leaves were brewed, directly, and the way tea was drunk was changed. Teapots were made to infuse the tea leaves and keep the tea hot and small cups were developed to direct the fragrant steam to the nose to get a better appreciation of the tea's flavor. While the way tea was prepared to drink had changed from bricks to leaves, bricks were still popular for ease of commerce and merchants trading tea became rich.
The Chinese Empire tightly controlled the preparation and the cultivation of the tea crop - only young women, because of their "purity" - were allowed to handle tea leaves. Soon, tea and tea drinking evolved into an art form and books began to be written covering proper techniques to grow and brew tea. The making of artistic ceramic tea drinking bowls, pots, cups and utensils were developed during that time, as well. By the 5th century China was exporting tea to other areas of Asia and later, the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Imperial Court established a Directorate to oversee the trading of tea. They built an Imperial tea factory to supply tea to other countries, as well. Tea was given as gifts to visiting delegations, dignitaries and Buddhist monks from other countries visiting China which helped spread tea and its drinking to much of the Asian world. Further, Middle Eastern countries with large Muslim populations trading with China started to import and drink tea to replace the stimulating properties of drinking alcohol, which was forbidden to devout Muslims. Tea was brought to Tibet when Chinese Princess Wencheng was wed into the Tibetan Royal family, in 640. She brought tea with her, spreading tea drinking culture with her to the Tibetans. The trade between China, for Tibetan horses, and Tibet, for Chinese tea, became so important that the Chinese and Tibetans established a very long caravan thoroughfare for commerce between the two countries. This trade route became known as the "Tea Horse Road" and, later, stretched from Sichuan, China through Tibet extending trade including tea to Nepal, Mongolia and Burma.
In 780, the Chinese writer Liu Yu, known as "The Sage of Tea", wrote "Cha Jing", the first definitive book on tea. This book inspired Japanese Buddhist missionaries to introduce tea into Imperial Japan; tea plants were brought from China in 1191 and planted in the Kyoto hills. Tea became an art form in Japan with the introduction of the Chanoyu Tea Ceremony during the Kamakura period in Japan (1192-1333). The Tea Ceremony is still practiced in Japan today and tea is still the most popular drink in Japan. Tea had been drunk by people in Asia and the Middle East very long before it was introduced into the western world. The history of tea trades to Europe, Russia, and, later, to the American continents did not begin until several centuries later. These Western World trades started in the 17th century.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world and has a very interesting history. According to legend, tea was discovered in China, about 2737 BC, in the mountainous areas around Sichuan and Yunnan when leaves of an unidentified tree fell into the pot of boiling water that Emperor Shen Nung was preparing to drink. Intrigued by the pleasant scent of the brew, the Emperor tasted it and found it invigorated every part of his body, Further, because it cured him of a stomach ache, he ascribed medicinal properties to it, also. He named the brew "Ch'a", the Chinese character for, "to check", "investigate". Soon others started to drink Ch'a (tea) believing it beneficial to their health. Being a scarce and rare product, it was only consumed by the wealthy. However, the demand of the wealthy soon outstripped the supply of wild leaves. Therefore, farmers began to plant and grow tea and it became more available and its popularity grew. It started to be used not only for its medicinal qualities but for refreshment and pleasure, as well.
Over the years, tea was processed by various means and drunk in different manners. Very early, tea was made into bricks by steaming, crushing and pressing the ground green tea leaves into molds. To prepare tea, one pinched off a piece of the brick, put it into a tea bowl, added boiling water, allowed the ground tea to separate and infuse it's flavor into the water, after which it was ready to drink. People drank the tea from the same bowl in which it was prepared. However, this allowed the tea to cool quicker and drinkers had to keep refilling their bowls with hot water if they wanted to drink their tea hot. Later, during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644), the preparation and the way tea was drunk was changed by the Emperor. He demanded that loose tea leaves, not bricks, be delivered to his court. From that point forward, tea leaves were brewed, directly, and the way tea was drunk was changed. Teapots were made to infuse the tea leaves and keep the tea hot and small cups were developed to direct the fragrant steam to the nose to get a better appreciation of the tea's flavor. While the way tea was prepared to drink had changed from bricks to leaves, bricks were still popular for ease of commerce and merchants trading tea became rich.
The Chinese Empire tightly controlled the preparation and the cultivation of the tea crop - only young women, because of their "purity" - were allowed to handle tea leaves. Soon, tea and tea drinking evolved into an art form and books began to be written covering proper techniques to grow and brew tea. The making of artistic ceramic tea drinking bowls, pots, cups and utensils were developed during that time, as well. By the 5th century China was exporting tea to other areas of Asia and later, the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Imperial Court established a Directorate to oversee the trading of tea. They built an Imperial tea factory to supply tea to other countries, as well. Tea was given as gifts to visiting delegations, dignitaries and Buddhist monks from other countries visiting China which helped spread tea and its drinking to much of the Asian world. Further, Middle Eastern countries with large Muslim populations trading with China started to import and drink tea to replace the stimulating properties of drinking alcohol, which was forbidden to devout Muslims. Tea was brought to Tibet when Chinese Princess Wencheng was wed into the Tibetan Royal family, in 640. She brought tea with her, spreading tea drinking culture with her to the Tibetans. The trade between China, for Tibetan horses, and Tibet, for Chinese tea, became so important that the Chinese and Tibetans established a very long caravan thoroughfare for commerce between the two countries. This trade route became known as the "Tea Horse Road" and, later, stretched from Sichuan, China through Tibet extending trade including tea to Nepal, Mongolia and Burma.
In 780, the Chinese writer Liu Yu, known as "The Sage of Tea", wrote "Cha Jing", the first definitive book on tea. This book inspired Japanese Buddhist missionaries to introduce tea into Imperial Japan; tea plants were brought from China in 1191 and planted in the Kyoto hills. Tea became an art form in Japan with the introduction of the Chanoyu Tea Ceremony during the Kamakura period in Japan (1192-1333). The Tea Ceremony is still practiced in Japan today and tea is still the most popular drink in Japan. Tea had been drunk by people in Asia and the Middle East very long before it was introduced into the western world. The history of tea trades to Europe, Russia, and, later, to the American continents did not begin until several centuries later. These Western World trades started in the 17th century.
Friday, September 22, 2017
FOOD TRIVIA: Holes in Crackers
The holes in crackers are not there for decoration but to help in the baking process. Crackers are made from dough rolled in sheets. The holes are placed, according to the size and shape of the cracker, with the numbers and position of the holes being of importance to the final product. Holes too close together will make the cracker hard and dry due to too much steam escaping in the baking process: too far apart and little bubbles form on parts of the cracker's surface during baking, an undesirable effect in most crackers.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Cooking Tip: Keeping Cheese Souffle Light and Fluffy
To keep cheese souffle light and fluffy, substitute quick cooking TAPIOCA instead of flour to thicken the milk base: 2 Tbsp tapioca per one cup milk for a three egg souffle.
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