The Melting Teapot

Tea drinkers from the U.S. love to visit countries where tea is a much more important aspect of the culture. In many Asian countries, tea is often viewed as a social custom  -- ranging from a way of casually visiting with friends to a more ceremonial, formal way of recognizing friends and family.  The brewing of tea can also be seen as a path to enlightenment or inner peace.

In most tea-drinking countries (even here in the United States), tea is viewed as comforting, invigorating, and a great way to relax.  In particular, Britain and India have embraced the concept of comfort and relaxation through a good cup of tea, and in both countries tea breaks and tea carts are often part of the work day.

When my husband was on a business trip to Udaipur (India) two years ago, he really enjoyed being able to walk outside and around the corner to the chai cart.  Getting a delicious chai was one benefit, but he also felt that it was a chance to socialize with other employees in a different way than the office interactions.

I won't be visiting India any time soon, so I try to get my cultural fix by watching travel shows, reading blogs, and viewing online videos. Youtube is a great resource for ads and shows (professional and amateur) from other countries.  With just a few key words and a couple of clicks, anyone can view videos from other countries -- some are instructional, some are clips from travel shows, and a few are fun television ads.

I've just poured myself a cup of Majulighur Assam (milk, no sugar) and have YouTube ready to go because . . .

Today I'm Dreaming of Chai in India:  मसाला चाय

If you're lucky enough to travel to India, you should be able to find chai wallahs on most city streets.  There is often a sense of pride associated with the chai-making technique, much like you find in coffee baristas here in the Seattle area.

WARNING: loud music alert.  Be ready to turn down the volume!

Not all tea vendors are so young.  However, you'll still see the artistry and pride as the man brews and pulls the chai.

Of course, tea is also very important on the home front.  I've been told that every Indian grandma has her own chai.  Whether living in the country of India, or making a home in another land, chai is a tradition that is passed down in many Indian families.  You'll get a sense of this in the next video, "How to Make Masala Chai." I'll have to try this version of coconut chai soon -- looks delicious!

The lump of sugar she drops in at the end must make a really sweet cup.  I'll take my sans sucre, please.

Much like coffee ads in the U.S., there are also many tea ads in India that focus on the home front.  It's fun to note that many of these home-brewed tea ads are multi-generational, which is very representative of family living arrangements in India.

Don't we all wish we had homes like this?!

Here is a classic ad, from 1987, with an Indian version of "a man's home is his castle"

And, here is an ad that manages to be romantic and funny at the same time:

This one takes a more artistic turn:

Note: the ad is over after 40 seconds (for some reason this upload replays the video several times).

The next Tea India ad features quick clips of tea-drinking in Indian cinema. Two of the world's most famous movie stars, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan make multiple appearances.   I also caught a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance by Kajol, plus a few other familiar faces.

As an aside, Amitabh Bachchan has his own blog!  It really is a thoughtful and interesting blog, and I'll be spending more time reading through it in the coming days.

In this last video for today, I'm stepping away from ads and back to informational video.  This time we go to the ends of the earth to visit The Last Tea Shop of India.  Here is a NewsX news spot about the tea shop, which is located near the Badrinath shrine in the far northern reaches of India.

There’s a large school of thought out there that never pairs red wine with veggies, insisting that whites and roses are the only way to go.  I’ve even heard some wine experts say that vegetables just don’t pair with wine at all, unless there is added fat (butter or cheese) to cut the acids and tannins in the wine.

However, as a wine lover who eats “mostly-veg,”  I have found many vegetarian wine pairings that break these widely held beliefs. I encourage you to stray away from the familiar expectations and over-applied rules of wine pairing.  Try some new things – be adventurous as you explore food and wine!   You might end up stumbling into something as wonderful as I did two years ago.

Red Beets & Big Red Wines

This was initially a chance encounter for me. I wanted to have a glass of wine with dinner but wasn’t sure what to choose, since none of my recipe or pairing books mentioned beets. We were having a dark purple, very beet-filled risotto, made with roasted beets that are pureed and then stirred in with the last addition of broth.

I decided to go with the “similar flavors” style of pairing and pulled out a rather sweet and mineral-driven pinot gris from Alsace, thinking it might pair with the natural sugars and earthy notes of the beets. It did not work at all.  Together, they both became way too sweet, and the flavors buried instead of enhanced each other.

Luckily, we were decanting a petit syrah for later in the evening, a bottle of 2005 Jeff Runquist Petite Sirah "R" Enver Salman Vineyard.

Out of curiosity, I poured a glass of this to try with the beets. Amazing! This was a wonderful pairing. The beets toned down the edge of oak in the petite sirah, raising the fruit level and bringing out some extra herbal notes. In turn, the wine toned down the natural sweetness of the beets, bringing a nice earthy tone to the risotto. Serendipity led to a really wonderful pairing!

I have since successfully paired red beets  (in main dishes, and in salads) with many types of red wine – syrah, cab sauv, tempranillos, and a few Italian reds.  

Here is the recipe for my beet risotto dish (based on a recipe from Rachael Ray).

Red Beet Risotto with Sauteed Beet Greens

(serves 2-3 as the main dish)

Roast 2 or 3 medium beets: Scrub beets well to remove dirt. Trim off tops and bottoms but leave skins on. Reserve greens for later. Place beets in a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Close the foil tightly, then place in 350 degree oven for 45-60 minutes (until they're tender). When done roasting, let them cool enough to handle, then use paper towels to rub off the skin.

Ingredients:

Pre-roasted beets, chopped then pureed in a food processor or blender (or give them a good squishing with a potato masher)
2 cups veg. broth + 1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup white or red wine

Beet Greens, thick base stocks removed (but the thinner, higher ones are fine), chopped roughly

1. Bring stock and water to a boil in a saucepan. Turn down heat to keep broth simmering.

2. Place medium-large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, then onions and garlic. Saute until onions are tender, then add cup of rice to toast in the pan (about 1 minute longer).

3. To the rice, add wine and cook until liquid has evaporated. Turn heat down, to keep the rice simmering gently but not burning or sticking. Once the wine is absorbed, it is time to start the process of adding broth.

4. Add ladle of warm broth, stirring carefully but frequently until all liquid is absorbed (about 4-5 minutes). Add another ladle of broth, again stirring frequently until absorbed. And again. . . and one more time. With this last ladleful of broth, add the pureed beets.

Beet Greens: these take about 3-5 minutes (start them with the last ladle of stock).  Heat your sauté pan to medium high, then add a quick swirl of olive oil.   Toss in the greens and stir.  They will turn a darker color and wilt.  Add a pinch of salt & pepper, and/or finely grated nutmeg.


Serve risotto topped with Sauteed Beet Greens.

Optional (but not really necessary):   serve freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.

Tonight will find me parked in front of the TV, watching the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  I love the winter games and have been surfing the web for articles about athletes and events. . . but keep getting sidetracked by articles about dining and imbibing.  Those who are lucky enough to be attending in person will have a wonderful time discovering the wide variety of food and drink that exists in Vancouver.  The rest of us just get to read about these places while we make plans for future trips to visit our friendly neighbors up north.

Welcome to this special Winter Olympics Edition of . . .

Dining

Canadian Food Fights: Newsweek editor/author, Mark Starr, writes about two very different food events in the days leading up to the opening ceremony.  One was a breakfast called Savour Canada, and the other a promotional event at McDonald's (evidently the Mac will be using ex-Olympic athletes to promote its new "healthy" items, in particular the smoothies).

Vancouver's Gold Medal for Cuisine:  This next one sounds like great fun! During the Olympics, there will be pavilions in Vancouver which feature the country's regional cuisine, as well as ethnic restaurants offering international fare. These range "from B.C. wild salmon to succulent Alberta beef, Saskatchewan sausage and Ukranian-influenced perogies to award-winning cheeses at Quebec House, East Coast seafood at Atlantic House and cuisine at the Four Host First Nations Pavilion."

Enjoy Tastes of Vancouver at Home: Can't make it to Vancouver, but you'd like to recreate a special dish?  Chef Daniel Boulud of the DB Bistro Moderne in Vancouver is sharing his gourmet recipes for cornmeal-crusted Qualicum Bay scallops and for the traditional dish choucroute.

Space Age Technology to Protect Food for Vancouver Winter Games Athletes: Olympian athletes have had problems in the past with food-borne illness, but this year Vancouver has upped the protection by using a critical points monitoring system developed by NASA.  The article gives an interesting overview of what must be a huge nightmare for those in food prep and safety.

Imbibing

Olympics-inspired cocktails: In this video, Trevor Kallies of the Granville Room in Vancouver shows off a variety of Olympics-inspired cocktails which showcase Canadian liquors and wines.

Vancouver Winter Olympics wine guide pt. 1 and Vancouver Winter Olympics wine guide pt. 2: International Wine Examiner, Kevin Lynch, takes a look at Canadian Wines.

Jackson-Triggs Esprit: in honor of the Olympics, Jackson-Triggs released special bottlings of merlot and chardonnay. "Every time you purchase a bottle of Jackson-Triggs Esprit wines, partial proceeds not only support the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also our Canadian team. In the true spirit of the Games, we’re proud to have the opportunity to give back."

Sipping Something Warm

World Tea Party: a downtown art gallery will be temporarily transformed "into a teahouse and performance space, engaging a diverse array of communities in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in collective art production. Tea parties will be presented in the Centre A gallery, in local parks and community gathering places, and online. Projects include participatory Japanese tea ceremonies organized by the Urasenke Tea Foundation, and Squamish Nation herbal tea events."

Murchie's: one of the most popular places to purchase tea in Vancouver, it is a bit of a destination spot for tea lovers. If I were in Vancouver for the Olympics, you'd definitely find me there at least once.  By the way, they do provide online ordering for those of us who won't be in Vancouver any time soon.

Afternoon Tea at The Empress: I would also figure out some way to get across the water to Victoria, for one of the wildly popular afternoon teas.  Teamuse (of Adagio Teas) writes a beautiful description and says that "Tea at the Empress. . . is the tea of a lifetime."

I was on the phone with my mom a few days ago, and she was excited about a new dessert she’d just tried: a carrot pudding at an Indian lunch buffet. I’ve been to many Indian restaurants but had never had this before.  Her description made me curious, so I did a bit of quick online research to find out more.

Gajar Halva (or Gajar Halwa) is not what I usually think of as a halva. It is not dense, there is no flour or sesame paste base.  Instead, this is a warm and thick pudding, a smooth and fragrant end to a meal.

Shredded carrots are simmered in cream, milk, or coconut milk. After the liquid is absorbed and the carrots soften up, dried fruits and nuts are added, along with cardamom and sugar.  Some recipes are more complicated than others, using clarified butter and starting with fresh cardamom.  Others are easy, with just a few basic ingredients being warmed in a pan.

Because this was an unfamiliar food to me, I decided to try a simpler recipe for my first attempt:  Gajar Halva Carrot Pudding, an Indian Dessert (posted on recipezaar).  There are really only two basic steps:

1. You begin by simmering grated carrots in half & half.

2. After about 40 minutes, the cream is absorbed and you add brown sugar, raisins, and butter. Stir this in well and simmer for another 15 minutes.

What we ended up with was a bowl of a sweet, smooth, fragrant, satisfying, comfort food.  The consistency is almost like oatmeal or porridge, but it is lighter and fluffier in texture.  There is a nice contrast between the natural sweetness of the carrots and the caramel notes from the brown sugar.  We sprinkled chopped pistachios on top of our bowls, then dug in!

There are a few youtube videos of Indian cooks making this dessert, each with their own takes on the recipe.  Most of them seem to use a saute pan instead of a sauce pan, and they start by simmering the carrots in butter or ghee.  I think that is probably a better way of infusing the butter into the carrots.  Next time around, I’d also like to amp up the exotic fragrance a bit more, perhaps by starting with cardamom pods instead of the powdered spice.  At the very least, I'll head over to one of the nearby Indian groceries to pick up a better cardamom spice than the old bottle that's been sitting in my racks for a few years. 

Here is one of the videos I found on youtube, Carrot Halwa by vahchef.  I suggest forwarding from the 30 second to 1:30 point (he's sidetracked by something else that can be found on his web site).

If anyone out there has suggestions or tips, please post them for me.  I'll definitely be trying this again soon.  I'm already craving another bowl!

I've been craving dry wit, which must mean it is time to read some Dorothy Parker.  These poems and quotes are at least sort of related to food, wine, or tea. 

Before you read this last one, try out your best dry and wry Dorothy Parker voice. In your mind, italicize the word "him" in that last sentence.

Penelope

In the pathway of the sun,
In the footsteps of the breeze,
Where the world and sky are one,
He shall ride the silver seas,
He shall cut the glittering wave.
I shall sit at home, and rock;
Rise, to heed a neighbor's knock;
Brew my tea, and snip my thread;
Bleach the linen for my bed.
They will call him brave.

Please feel free to add your favorite Parker quote in the comments, or to suggest an essay or poem.