Afternoon tea of the ancients - tea and food culture

Recently, the fashion of afternoon tea can be described as a moment. Sun lunch sun dinner, can not compare to sun a British style afternoon tea eye-catching. Tea set must be European-style exquisite, preferably W's rose or wild strawberry; delicate fingers, haughtily pick up the gold cups, the table is a three-tiered afternoon tea saucer, colorful, taste does not matter, the key is to look good. Of course, the tea cup is a bag of tea or fruit tea does not matter, you know, sister drink is not tea, is the accent, is leisurely.

British afternoon tea from the 17th century, the earliest is the noblewoman's salon culture, and then slowly promoted to the civilian class. This afternoon tea I have tried a few times, the accent is there, however, savor, missing a point, flavor, and the choice of tea is even more monotonous, basically black tea or fruit tea. In fact, as the birthplace of tea, we Chinese people's tea and food culture, the origin of the earlier, and to pay much attention.

The reason why called to eat tea to go, because the earliest tea is indeed used to eat. Before the Tang Dynasty, cooking tea are generally added sesame, salt, melon seeds, peach kernels and other condiments. From Lu Yu began to put forward cooking tea without condiments, in order to taste the true aroma of tea, since then, tea, food separate, and therefore there is a specialized tea food. Tea and food culture has a long history, first recorded in the "Shishu Xinyu ˙ light denigration chapter": "Jin Chu Taifu first crossed the river, although there has been a heavy name at the time, the creation of the times do not know each other. Don't edict around more and more tea juice, less chopsticks dumplings." Various forms of tea banquets, tea instead of wine, flowers, drinking; there are also celebrating the first harvest of new tea, tasting good tea; more Zen forest preaching or the court to appreciate the tea tea banquets. With the aroma of tea, tea food is usually light pasta and fruit, but the variety is also very much, Japan's "Zen Forest Song" recorded in the Tang Dynasty tea food: "crystal buns (kudzu powder to do), donkey intestines soup (like donkey intestines), the water essence of the red soup, turtle soup, Fumi soup, inch gold soup, fish soup ...... "Visible on the color, shape and taste of the degree of preoccupation. The Tang Dynasty poet Qian Qi wrote in "Tea Banquet with Zhao Ju" that "I forgot to speak to the purple tea under the bamboo, and I was drunk by the feathered guests of Quan Sheng Liu Xia. It is difficult to wash away the dusty heart, a tree of cicadas slanting shadow." In the book, it is a true record of the Tang Dynasty's tea banquets. After the development of the Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties, tea food has become a unique food culture, there are thousands of kinds, but also in different regions to develop into a local specialty customs and cuisine, which is most famous for Yunnan's Pendulum Tea, Yibin and Guangdong's Morning Tea.

Today, tea is still one of the seven things essential to the Chinese people open the door, but for the tea food, we are not as careful as the ancients. For one thing, we are busy, where there is time to make those tea fruit, two, after the cultural catastrophe and the whole business years, the last few years the tea culture is back in vogue, and tea food is the icing on the cake, as the composition of the tea table is slowly being emphasized, some of them combined with the traditional culture of the tea feast is refreshing. I once saw a tea banquet themed on the twenty-four solar terms, according to the twenty-four solar terms with different tea, and each tea also needs to be matched with different tea food. What I remember most is the spring cake with jasmine tea at the beginning of spring, the summer egg with dragon well at the beginning of summer, the beef and lotus soup with dahongpao at the beginning of fall, and the tea dumpling with puerh at the beginning of winter. All the collocation, in addition to consider the taste and color, but also according to the seasonal changes, taking into account the human body's yin and yang deficiency, natural seasonal growth. Such a table tea feast, tasting tea and tea food, enjoying the tea mat and tea utensils, pondering the Chinese philosophy.

The teacher of the natural Taoist tea is concerned about the health of the gas, in the choice of tea and tea time are very careful. I have a Taoist friend, research out of the six chakra tea, is said to be based on different hours of the human body chakra running law to choose different tea, can help chakra balance and smooth, to achieve the effect of health practice. For example, green tea at the hour, through the bladder meridian, through the solar chakra; before the hour of black tea, to help the stomach run, through the Shaoyang chakra. Similarly, with the tea food should also have the same or complementary functions, drink green tea with lotus seeds, barley cake, cinnamon peach kernel, etc., has the function of expelling dampness and diuretic; and drink black tea with melon seeds, walnuts and other nuts is a good choice; yellow tea can be drunk in the middle of the meal, and drink black tea in the afternoon with the appropriate sweet and sour preserves. But on the whole, Taoist tea drinking is not recommended more with tea food, will mess up the tea gas.

Indeed, there are many varieties of tea, red, green, green, white, black and yellow, and tea food can also be divided into fresh fruits, nuts, noodles and fruits, flowers, meat and so on, it seems very complex. How do we ordinary people drink tea with tea food? There is a simple mnemonic in folklore: "sweet with green, sour with red, melon seeds with oolong". The so-called sweet with green: that is, sweet with green tea, such as with various sweet cakes, pineapple cake with green tea; sour with red: that is, sour food with black tea to drink, such as with fruit, lemon slices, candied fruit, etc. with black tea; melon with oolong: that is, salty food with oolong tea to drink, such as melon seeds, peanuts, olives, etc. with oolong tea. Of course, it is more convenient to remember some taboos, such as jasmine tea should not be paired with other tea foods that are too fragrant, such as nuts, fruits, flowers, etc., to avoid affecting its own fragrance; tea should not eat too spicy or stimulating food, and try not to choose too greasy snacks. These are said to be taboo, in fact, common sense, easy to remember and operate.

In the end, eating tea is a picture of freedom and leisure, in addition to the formal tea table, a person drinking alone or with good friends *** drink, as long as they like, look beautiful, eat with the mouth, favorable to the body and mind, and what can not be? It is said that Lu You's favorite tea food is duck feet, that should be a different taste in the heart?