"have a cup of tea," indeed!

I'll be honest, the first section I reach for when I see a newspaper lying around is the Funnies section. But when I'm not concentrating on Hocus Focus, I'll keep myself pretty preoccupied with the Flavor section. It provides me with a glimmer of hope for my fellow Houstonians when this tiny section of such a huge periodical adds a hint of very much needed culture via food news. Last Wednesday (3.23.11) an article caught my eye that really perked my interest because it followed the beautiful genius that is simplicity. The concept? - enhancing a dish's entire food profile using only one ingredient.

Sophie Brickman, San Fransisco food writer, gave H-Town the scoop on using, of all things, tea leaves in more ways than a simple steep 'n' drink (my current favorite way to enjoy it). The article suggested uses like brewing in broths, replacing wood chips for smoked meats or even grinding up and adding the leaf to dry rubs as though it were a spice.
Brickman mentions tips for pairing certain teas with certain dishes that have different types of flavors and varying levels of body and fullness. It makes sense- I mean what kind of schmuck would one be if he made the blunder of completely masking the taste of a delicate white leaf tea by adding it to a robust beef broth... right? I mean right?
Basically, like with your favorite cocktail, try to keep like with like. A light chicken or veggie broth would pair with a fair-nature green tea. You would add Earl Gray to a dessert recipe for a bitterness vs. sweetness element.

You can take a peek at some of what was in the Houston Chronicle here. 

Some of the recommended teas that were mentioned in the recipes lead me to researching some names that I'd never heard of, like Lapsang Souchong (an obviously Asian, medium-bold, full-bodied black loose leaf tea). My search took me to a site called theartoftea.com. Anyone who likes tea like I do will appreciate this site. It has a lot of info on all sorts of tea profiles. It will help anyone look like a tea snob... or, y'know just find new tea flavors.

This post is dedicated to Meagan Samuelsen, whom I often think of when my kettle whistles. 

-k