As we study the advantages of tea it is growing more popular, but not just as a beverage. Tea is also gaining popularity as a spice for cooks. You might recollect a similar thing happening a couple of years ago during the time when coffee irrupted as a stylish beverage.
Tea goes well with food so it feels like a natural step to start utilizing it as a flavor-enhancer, the same way we utilize herbs and spices. And there are other great reasons for the enhanced interest in cooking involving tea.
With all the known health benefits of tea any additional way to get it into your diet is beneficial. Another advantage of seasoning with tea is that it is an effective technique to add or enhance the flavor of a dish without adding undesirable elements like fat, calories or sodium, that sometimes are a part of other flavor enhancers.
Although cooking with tea may seem like a new trend, it has actually been around almost as long as the beverage itself. The British have used tea to flavor tea cakes and to stew dried fruit for years. The Japanese have been enjoying ochazuke, which is made by pouring green tea over rice before serving. And the Chinese have been using black tea to smoke and simmer foods for centuries.
Modern cooks have been developing these uses of tea and discovering that even simple additions can add a richness to foods without overwhelming the natural flavor of the food. For example try adding a tablespoon of English Breakfast to a salad dressing, or a jasmine teabag or two to rice while it is simmering.
Cooking with tea doesn't have to be limited to the appetizer or main course. Tea can also lend a complex taste to dessert. Rich black teas like Darjeeling have deep tones that help strengthen the flavor of chocolate desserts. Green teas are able to add a zing to creamy desserts while they also tend to calm the tart flavor of a citrus sorbet. While fragrant teas like chai are able to impart a pleasant flavor to rich items like frosting or cheesecake.
You can let the creative juices flow when preparing food with tea. It may be applied as a spice by adding tea leaves to a pepper grinder; you might even want to add white pepper, or some other spice of choice with the tea in the spice grinder. Tea can also be used as a marinade. If you're not sure where to begin, or if you need a little guidance, check out a cookbook that specializes in cooking with tea.
If you're just starting to use tea in your cooking it may help to think of the tea as an ingredient or a spice, instead of a beverage, and go with your instincts. Also don't forget about all the forms of tea -- you can use tea leaves, brewed tea, tea bags or if you like green tea you can use matcha green tea powder to sprinkle on things like fruit. Then there are all the varieties -- Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Gunpowder, Sencha.
So give it a try. You may be surprised by how easy it is to give an exotic flair to some old favorites.
Tea goes well with food so it feels like a natural step to start utilizing it as a flavor-enhancer, the same way we utilize herbs and spices. And there are other great reasons for the enhanced interest in cooking involving tea.
With all the known health benefits of tea any additional way to get it into your diet is beneficial. Another advantage of seasoning with tea is that it is an effective technique to add or enhance the flavor of a dish without adding undesirable elements like fat, calories or sodium, that sometimes are a part of other flavor enhancers.
Although cooking with tea may seem like a new trend, it has actually been around almost as long as the beverage itself. The British have used tea to flavor tea cakes and to stew dried fruit for years. The Japanese have been enjoying ochazuke, which is made by pouring green tea over rice before serving. And the Chinese have been using black tea to smoke and simmer foods for centuries.
Modern cooks have been developing these uses of tea and discovering that even simple additions can add a richness to foods without overwhelming the natural flavor of the food. For example try adding a tablespoon of English Breakfast to a salad dressing, or a jasmine teabag or two to rice while it is simmering.
Cooking with tea doesn't have to be limited to the appetizer or main course. Tea can also lend a complex taste to dessert. Rich black teas like Darjeeling have deep tones that help strengthen the flavor of chocolate desserts. Green teas are able to add a zing to creamy desserts while they also tend to calm the tart flavor of a citrus sorbet. While fragrant teas like chai are able to impart a pleasant flavor to rich items like frosting or cheesecake.
You can let the creative juices flow when preparing food with tea. It may be applied as a spice by adding tea leaves to a pepper grinder; you might even want to add white pepper, or some other spice of choice with the tea in the spice grinder. Tea can also be used as a marinade. If you're not sure where to begin, or if you need a little guidance, check out a cookbook that specializes in cooking with tea.
If you're just starting to use tea in your cooking it may help to think of the tea as an ingredient or a spice, instead of a beverage, and go with your instincts. Also don't forget about all the forms of tea -- you can use tea leaves, brewed tea, tea bags or if you like green tea you can use matcha green tea powder to sprinkle on things like fruit. Then there are all the varieties -- Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Gunpowder, Sencha.
So give it a try. You may be surprised by how easy it is to give an exotic flair to some old favorites.
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