Til Death Do Us Part?

One of the pleasures of having an April 30th Halloween is that the lead up is free of all the trappings that precede Halloween in October. I love the fun build up to October Halloween but I also love that the days leading up to April Halloween have special and appropriate significance for me.

April begins with April Fool’s Day which is one of my “New Year” days on which I review the journey I have been on and plan for the journey ahead. In the middle of April is Bat Appreciation Day followed by Bram Stoker’s Death Day and ANZAC Day. The month ends with both Walpurgis Night and Halloween!

Halloween is one of many different days observed around the world that is dedicated to remembering and honouring our dead. The cultural importance of these days suggests that for many, “Til Death Do Us Part”, doesn’t really work. As I get into the Halloween spirit, I remember my beloved dead and how the ties I have with them have not ended even though they have departed from this realm.

This year I began Halloween by having morning tea at the Fawkner Tearooms situated in Fawkner Memorial Park.

It’s evening now and I’m preparing mint tea and cakes for a very special Halloween Mourning Tea. To begin:

• Set a table as you would for a Silent Supper, with one place set for each guest and one place of honour set for your departed loved ones.
• Place food that reminds you of your loved ones on the table, placing a special offering on the plate for the dead. (I had coffin shaped chocolate cakes reserved for this occasion from my Deadly Surprise Cake, giving them new life by drizzling them with peppermint icing).
• Place drinks that remind you of your loved ones on the table, pouring a special offering into the cup for the dead.
• While you eat and drink, think about your departed loved ones.
• There is no right way to do a Silent Supper. Just do what feels right for you.

I created my own Mourning Tea ritual, inspired by the elaborate preparation and serving of Moroccan Mint Tea. A traditional Moroccan Mint Tea ritual combines a powerful spiritual and culinary journey that is beautifully described in this Maghrebi poem:

The first glass is as gentle as life,
The second glass is a strong as love,
The third is as bitter as death.

Mourning Mint Tea

Ingredients (enough for three guests)
small bunch mint leaves
3 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon peppermint tea leaves
1 tablespoon black tea leaves

Instructions
Place the fresh mint in a teapot.
Pour in boiling water and steep for eight minutes.
Fill the honoured guest cup a third of the way then pour a small serve of tea for each guest.
Add the peppermint tea to the teapot and steep for 6 minutes.
While the tea is having its second brew, relax and enjoy the gentle mint flavour of the first brew.
After six minutes, strain the tea into each cup following the ritual above.
Add the black tea to the teapot and steep for 4 minutes.
While the tea is having its third brew, relax and enjoy the stronger peppermint flavour of the second brew.
After four minutes, strain the tea into each cup following the ritual above.
Enjoy the bitter tea flavour of this third brew.
When you are ready to finish the ritual, pack everything up except the cake and tea reserved for your loved ones. If you can, leave them on the table overnight and then bury the cake and pour the tea in your garden on May Day.

Note: If you have a pot warmer or tea cosy, it will help keep the brew hot throughout.

Digging For Dirt

The Autumn Equinox is almost here and, like Persephone, it’s time for me to begin my Autumnal descent into the Underworld. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons, but last Autumn I became so ill I ended up in hospital. The fear that this may happen again clouded my usual happy embracing of the coming dark time of the year. To combat this fear, I recently embarked on a fun journey of discovery, as I visited numerous cafes to taste test my new favourite drink. So what is the drink that has ignited my Autumn fire? It’s a Dirty Chai. 🙂

A dirty chai combines a spiced chai latte with a shot of espresso coffee. It’s called “dirty” because the coffee changes the colour of the tea making it look muddy or dirty. But it’s not just the look of the chai that the coffee changes, but also the flavour. The coffee adds bitter, earthy flavours that perfectly balance the spicy sweetness of chai. It’s this delicate balancing of flavours that make a dirty chai perfect for the Autumn Equinox.

In fact, experimenting with your own dirty chai recipe at home could be a fun way to enjoy the Autumn/Winter months ahead. You can make your own chai blends and try different chai syrups. A pumpkin spice dirty chai would be perfect for Halloween and maybe try a peppermint dirty chai for the Winter Solstice. If you experiment with dairy and non dairy milks you could be brewing for months. If you’re heading into Spring and Summer, don’t worry. You can also join the fun by making iced dirty chais for those hot Summer days!

Sweet Tea For A Bloody Countess

August 21st is Elizabeth Bathory’s deathiversary. It’s also National Sweet Tea Day. When I realised this, I couldn’t help picturing Elizabeth sipping a sweet tea. Seeing as two of her epithets are the “Blood Countess” and “Countess Dracula”, maybe it isn’t sweet tea she is sipping.

Countess Elizabeth Bathory (born 7 August 1560 – died 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman who was accused of torturing and murdering young girls. Bathory was eventually tried and convicted as a serial killer. She was imprisoned in her castle until her death. There is ongoing debate as to whether Elizabeth Bathory was a blood thirsty murderer or the victim of a witch hunt.

As a wealthy and influential landowner, there were many reasons to discredit her and take her land and power. This has led to questioning how the evidence brought against Bathory was gathered. Some testified that they had not seen her commit crimes but had heard stories about her while the eyewitness accounts from Bathory’s servants were mostly gained through torture. The enduring tales of her drinking and bathing in the blood of virgins to retain her youth appear to have been written after her death. Whether guilty or innocent of these crimes, Elizabeth Bathory has lived on in folklore, especially in vampire mythology.

And now onto something sweeter than blood – Sweet Tea!
National Sweet Tea Day is a day to enjoy the pleasures of a refreshing glass of iced sweet tea. The difference between sweet tea and iced tea is that sweetener is added to the tea at the time of brewing. National Iced Tea Day is celebrated on June 10.

To celebrate National Sweet Tea Day, I’ll be enjoying a sweetened Earl Grey tea. To pay tribute to the contribution Elizabeth Bathory has made to vampire mythology, I’ll be adding a slice of blood orange. It won’t be chilled either as I believe that tea, like blood, should be served warm.

Happy Drinking!

A Day For Red Pandas And Bamboo

International Red Panda Day was created by the Red Panda Network to promote the red panda and to find ways to fight for its survival. It is celebrated on the third Saturday in September. This year it falls on the 18th of September which is also World Bamboo Day. What a happy coincidence as bamboo is something red pandas love!

World Bamboo Day was created in the hopes it would increase global awareness about the importance of bamboo. The World Bamboo Organization encourages the use of bamboo in a sustainable fashion. They hope to introduce bamboo to new industries across the world and also protect traditional uses within local communities. The World Bamboo Organization is passionate about growing more bamboo around the world and have created the hashtag #PlantBamboo for this year’s celebrations.

Red pandas are all for planting more bamboo because they can’t survive without it. About 95% of their diet consists of bamboo. While the giant panda eats nearly every part of the bamboo, like the woody stem, the red panda is very selective and only eats the more nutritious leaf tips. They also eat tender bamboo shoots when they are available.

Thinking of red pandas enjoying nutritious bamboo tips reminded me of the bamboo leaf tea I bought a while ago. Bamboo tea is becoming popular as it is supposed to boost the immune system. It is good for the skin and can improve bone density. Bamboo tea also promotes healthy nail and hair growth, which may explain why red pandas have such beautiful, thick fur!

Bamboo tea has a subtle flavour, so you may need to experiment to find the right brew for you. I decided to pump up the flavour by using bamboo tea to make a spiced apple tea. This tasty tea can be served hot or enjoyed chilled as an iced tea. You can also make ice cubes with it and pop them into a gin or vodka cocktail. I mean why should pandas be the only ones having fun with bamboo! 🙂

Bamboo and Apple Tea

Ingredients
2 cups bamboo tea brewed to your liking
1 apple
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Instructions
Strain the tea into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
Cut the apple into thick slices crosswise so you can see the star shaped core.
Add the apple slices, cinnamon, cloves and sugar to the boiling water.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain and serve with a slice of apple if desired.

Sydney Under The Stars

My home state of Victoria is famous for having a public holiday for a horse race. Now we are becoming infamous for having a public holiday for a football match. Actually, it’s a holiday for the day before the football match which makes it even stranger. I’m not complaining. I’m grateful for any public holiday we can get! And it’s on a Friday, which I think is a great day to start a long weekend.

This year we went to Sydney and stayed at the Ultimo Hotel which is purported to be the world’s first astrology hotel. Among the services they offer are astrology reading packages that you can add to your booking. We didn’t do this but there was still heaps of astrological fun to be had.

On arrival we were greeted in reception by staff eager to talk astrology. They had city guides based on your star sign and astrologically appropriate “do not disturb signs.” I told them I was a sun sign Taurus with a Moon and Rising Sign in Sagittarius so they gave me both the Taurus and Sagittarius city guides. They offered me both a Taurus and Sagittarius door sign too but I only took the Taurus one as it said all that needed saying!

Shifting seamlessly from astrology to astronomy, I booked myself two tours at the Sydney Observatory. My first tour was at night. It was a full moon which isn’t great for star gazing but I loved it, especially when bats started flying around! Peering through the enormous telescope I got to see Mars and Saturn. On the day tour I got to see the Sun which is a real treat as you have to have a special filter on the telescope to view it. Many years ago I was lucky enough to see Venus (my ruling planet) transit the Sun. While this Sun viewing wasn’t as spectacular it was still amazing. Both tours ended with a visit to the planetarium which was fun and informative.

When I returned to the hotel I noticed a selection of “Astrolo-Teas” in reception. These teas are specially selected to match your star sign. I looked at the one for Taurus which was English Breakfast. Not bad! I love English and Irish Breakfast although my favourite tea is Earl Grey. I then went to the Sagittarius tea which was Lemongrass and Ginger. This was another great match as I love ginger tea. Naturally I wanted to experiment with these flavours when I got home. 

As the weather is heating up here, I wanted to make an iced tea. I decided to create a chai blend because it can be served hot or cold. I used English Breakfast for Taurus and added ginger for Sagittarius. The great thing is you can mix and match ingredients for your own personal taste or create a blend that you think reflects your astrological profile!

Astrological Iced Chai

Ingredients
3 cups milk
4 cardamon pods
4 black peppercorns
4 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
30g fresh ginger, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons black tea leaves (I used English Breakfast)
2 tablespoons honey
ice cubes for serving

Instructions
Place the milk in a saucepan.
Crack the cardamon pods open and place the seeds and shells into the milk.
Crack the peppercorns and add to the milk.
Add the cloves, cinnamon stick and ginger to the milk.
Bring very slowly to the boil (you want it to take about 10 minutes) 
Once boiling add the tea leaves and simmer for 2-5 minutes, depending on how strong you like your tea.
Stir in the honey.
Strain tea and refrigerate until cold.
Serve over ice cubes.

Saline Solution

Next in my exploration of the five taste sensations through drinks is the realm of salt. When we think of salty drinks we think of soups and broths. Cocktails that may come to mind are ones that have salt encrusted rims such as salty dogs and margaritas. A favourite of mine growing up was the tequila shot – lick your hand between your thumb and forefinger, sprinkle with salt, knock back your tequila shot then bite on a slice of lemon or lime – we always used lemon. This classic shot has been the subject of much debate. One theory suggests that you salt a slice of lemon or lime, pop it in your mouth and chew on it, then drink down a shot of tequila. I haven’t tried this version  – yet 🙂

Synchronistically, my local bar Hopheads has tapped a couple of salted beers recently. I tried one and was really surprised. Even though beer is not usually sweet, the overt taste of salt takes you back at first. After a few sips I began to enjoy it but it’s definitely not a favourite. They also had a cucumber and mint soft drink seasoned with salt and black pepper. With salty drinks on my mind I knew I had to try it. My first sip sent waves of disappointment through me as I thought “it’s horrible!” but a few sips in and I began to really appreciate its flavours. It actually reminded me of the doogh I made for the sour drinks blog. I began to wonder what it would be like with a spoonful of yoghurt or a few shots of gin.

For the recipe below I explored the world of salted teas. I have always wanted to make Tibetan butter tea as it combines some of my favourite flavours – tea, butter and salt. Sadly, the one I made was awful. I don’t know if it was me or the recipe but I really didn’t like it. Neither did my partner. Unperturbed I experimented with a different salty tea called Noon Chai – I just loved the name and happily the flavour! Noon Chai, also called Pink Tea, is a salted and spiced Kashmir tea with a surprise ingredient – bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). You can garnish it with chopped nuts like pistachios or almonds if you like.

Noon Chai

Ingredients
1 teaspoon green tea leaves
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup milk

Method
Place the tea leaves and half the water into a saucepan on medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk until combined. Add the remaining water, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Whisk until combined. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the milk and bring to a simmer.
Strain and serve.