When Cup Meets Plate
Paring Food with Tea
Let’s for a reading session like today shift the focus from the taste of tea to the relationship tez can have with other tastes.
As Coffe and Wine pairs wonderful with many dishes, teas pairings are also open to exploration. It has been a standard in the West for decades that only black tea can be paired with foods and all others must stand alone. Countless Victorian tearooms provide all the proof necessary: a Summer Darjeeling served with cucumber finger sandwiches, cookies, and biscuits. It is rare to see a White Peony perform as an understudy. However, considering that Eastern countries drink green tea with nearly every meal, the time has come to reconsider tea's standards.
Delicate teas like nutty Dragonwell or fresh Sencha are wonderful with seafood, salads, or chicken. Bright and lively-flavored teas, such as the blacks from Sri Lanka or Assam, India, are great accompaniments to red meat or spicy foods from Mexico, Italy, or India. Although it is traditional to have Oolongs with Chinese dishes, one may argue that rich, spicy teas, like the black Yunnan or Keemun, offer more complexity and layers to the experience of tea pairings.
For desserts, seek out the chocolaty essence of a Golden Monkey or English Breakfast black tea. These exquisite Chinese teas are hearty, rich, and taste perfect when complementing baked custards, chocolate cakes, or a rich, dense strawberry shortcake. Assam is another rich black tea that complements chocolate desserts, yet is a surprising foil against lemony or custard dishes. Due to the naturally sweet, floral nature of a Jasmine, it is also ideal to serve with a dessert.
Also, it is important to note that some teas, such as Formosa Oolong and Pouchong, seem to demand solo drinking, silence.
With as many teas and foods as exist in the world, the possibilities are endless. The practice of pairing food with tea is not an exact science, but rather an art. Discovering what tastes fit individual palates is something that can only be done on the personal level.
Enjoy! Xx