Happy New Year from all of us at Chateau

Happy New Year from all of us at Chateau Rouge! Looking forward to a fantastic 2014 and wish you all the very best with a year full of heath, wealth and happiness! And a good cup of tea or two…

Life and food

If life was only as simple as food – the farmer’s field is where it all starts, the kitchen is where it is all organised and the table is where it is savoured, enjoyed and remembered (at least to the next meal)!

The 5 most important things you must know about South African food for the world cup…

With the 2010 Football World Cup in kicking off in South Africa, bringing the world’s most watched tournament to Africa for the 1st time ever. For all those lucky enough to be in South Africa watching some of the games or just to absorb the festive atmosphere, there are a few key facts you should know about specific South African food and drink – to experience the country and culture to the full.

While for those enjoying the world cup from their sofas in their home countries, wherever that may be, you may want to impress your friends or possibly South African colleagues with some food facts that most South Africans take for granted. So from the land of long white sandy beaches, wild animals, picturesque landscapes, breathtaking vistas and awe inspiring mountain ranges – here are some foods you definitely should not miss out on.

Biltong:
Ask any South African abroad what he misses most and 9 times out of 10, biltong will feature in the top 3 most missed South African treats. Similar to ‘beef jerky’ in the USA, in that both are cured and dried meat, but the production processes are quite different. Biltong can be made from a variety of meats, including: wild game, ostrich or more commercially available beef.

Biltong is a long standing Afrikaner tradition evolved from the dried meat carried by the wagon-travelling Voortrekkers. The Voortrekkers were early settlers to the Cape Colony who ventured north into the interior of Southern Africa away from British rule during the Great Trek in the early 1800’s. With no refrigeration and being constantly on the move they dried and cured the meat preserving it from decay and insects.

There are many herb and spice combinations, with each town or city having their own famous biltong supplier. For the best biltong its best to ask the locals or alternatively you can just try them all and decide for yourself.

Rooibos Tea:
Grown only in the Cederberg mountains in the semi-desert Western Cape of South Africa, Rooibos (pronounce ‘roy-bos’ – Afrikaans for ‘red bush’) – is naturally green but gets its deep red colour and rich flavour from fermentation similar to that of black tea.

Although in 1772 botanist Carl Thunberg was the first Westerner to mention this wild shrub, the indigenous Khoisan were well aware of Rooibos’ remarkable health benefits and had been brewing it for centuries. The Cape’s early Dutch settlers adopted Rooibos instead of expensive black tea from Europe. In 1904 Russian immigrant Benjamin Ginsberg, recognising its potential, became the first to trade it from the Bushmen and pioneered its cultivation. More recently, Rooibos has become famous for being the favourite drink of Precious Ramotswe of ‘The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ novels.

Rooibos tea is full of natural powerful antioxidants and key minerals, and unlike green tea it has no caffeine and is very low in tannins, so all round a very healthy beverage – so much so that it is often bottle fed to babies, which explains why many South Africans are so addicted to it!

In South Africa it is common to drink Rooibos tea with milk, prepared similar to black tea in England, but to fully appreciate the tea it is best drunk black. The tea has a unique taste experience: an inviting vanilla aroma, woody flavours and a sweet, mild, fruity taste.

Rusks:
With your cup of Rooibos why not try a rusk. Rusks are hard, dry biscuits (also known as ‘beskuit’ in Afrikaans) eaten dunked in cup of coffee, tea, or Rooibos. Historically, rusks evolved (along with biltong) during the country’s early pioneering days as a way to preserve bread in the dry climate.

Traditionally baked at home from a recipe handed down through the generations, the most famous commercially produced rusk brand is Ouma (grandmother in Afrikaans) Rusks. In addition to plain and buttermilk flavours, look out for the more adventurous varieties made with amongst others aniseed, whole-wheat, condensed milk, muesli, and lemon poppy seed. Impress your South African friends; ask for an Ouma rusk with your cup of Rooibos!

Naartjies:
Its winter in South Africa and Naartjies (or nartjie) are in season. A soft loose-skinned citrus fruit, Naartjies are similar to mandarins, satsumas or tangerines.

The name is Afrikaans and is originally from the Tamil word nartei meaning citrus. The word has been used in South Africa since 1790, but the first written recorded English use is by Lawrence Green in the Tavern of the Seas 1947.

Naartjies are very popular at sporting events and can often find street vendors selling bags of the fruit outside football stadiums. So if you feeling like you missing out on your 5 a day fruits/vegetables and need a healthy snack in between your Castle beer (most popular South African beer) and biltong, get yourself a bag of Naartjies.

Babotie:
Babotie is possibly the one truly South African dish that you can’t find anywhere else. Like rusks there are numerous varieties and every South African will swear to his mother making the best Babotie using a recipe handed down through the generations.

Babotie is a spiced minced meat baked dish with an egg-based topping and includes dried fruit like raisins or sultanas. Served with rice it is normally garnished with walnuts, chutney (ask for ‘Mrs Balls Chutney’ – the most well known brand) and bananas. Although not particularly spicy, the dish incorporates a variety of flavours that can add complexity like dried fruit (usually apricots and raisins/sultanas), curry spices and milk.

South Africa has a very rich history and diverse cultural background, evidenced by the now 11 official languages and countless nationalities living in this naturally rich and beautiful country at the tip of Africa. Hopefully you have a few more nuggets of food info to not only impress your friends with but the truly appreciate and enjoy the country during this the first world cup hosted in Africa.

Is loose leaf tea better than tea bags?

For most of us in the UK a cup of tea is very much part of our daily routine, part of English culture. Good old builders tea, or also known as ‘english breakfast tea’ – made in a mug from tea bags and milk. Tea is the second most popular drunk beverage in the world, behind water. In the UK alone it is estimated that 165 million cups of tea are drunk daily (2009).

Tea bags were first discovered in 1907 by American tea merchant Thomas Sullivan, when he began distributing samples of his tea in small bags Chinese silk with a drawstring. Consumers noticed that they could simply leave the tea in the bag and re-use it with fresh tea. However, the potential of this distribution/packaging method would not be fully realized until later on. In the 1950’s Tetley’s on England launched the tea bag to the UK and the rest is history.

However following food trends in wine, coffee and chocolate, consumers are caring more about what they eat and drink. They want products that have character and reflect where they’re grown and produced. Even in this difficult economic climate, we are witnessing a sea change. There’s a certain type of consumer who is moving away from mass produced, consistently uniform and ultimately boring offerings – back to interesting, quality products from small producers, where every mouthful tells a story of how, when and where they were grown.

Now, with the growing popularity and interest in loose leaf and organic teas, most tea drinkers have been asking what the real benefits are of enjoying loose leaf tea versus that of drinking tea in tea bags.

The main difference between the teas used in tea bags compared to that of loose leaf tea, is in the size of the tea leaf. The tea commonly used in tea bags is called fanning’s or “dust” and is the waste product produced from the sorting of higher quality loose leaf tea, although this certainly is not true for all brands of tea, fanning’s are often blended in with other smaller cut tea leaves.

In addition tea bags are often considered to have less flavour by tea aficionados as dried tea loses its flavour quickly on exposure to air. Most bag teas (although not all) contain leaves broken into small pieces; the great surface area to volume ratio of the leaves in tea bags exposes them to more air, and therefore causes them to go stale faster. Loose tea leaves are likely to be in larger pieces, or to be entirely intact and thus retain their flavour longer.

Also to consider is, that breaking up the leaves into smaller pieces for bags releases the natural flavoured oils of the tea leaf, with the result that the smaller pieces in the tea bags have less flavour.

The small size of the bag does not allow leaves to diffuse and steep properly, and fact that most tea bags are squeezed against the side of the cup – often brews a bitterer cup. Not to mention, the paper used for the bag can also be tasted by many, which can detract from the tea’s flavour.

Lastly, some tea bags are made using a wet paper strength-reinforcing coating using epichlorohydrin a known carcinogen.

To the everyday tea drinker, loose leaf tea may be perceived as less convenient to prepare than tea bags but the benefits of truly appreciating a fine tea to its fullest can only really be appreciated when enjoying one of the many loose leaf tea varieties from around the world. Be it white, yellow, green, oolong, black, pu-erh teas, South African Rooibos or tisane. Whether enjoying teas from India, China, Africa, England, Russia or any other tea growing region or tea loving nation – like a fine wine, to enjoy a quality leaf tea is to experience a product that has character and reflects where it is grown and produced, as well as the skill that has gone into its selection and specific production.

Great Video – Tea Chemistry Analysis

Just found this very interesting analysis of tea from a Chemistry perspective from the University of Nottingham.

Best tea in China in London

To celebrate the Chinese New Year (14-16 February) we went on a mission to find the best place to drink tea in China town (London). Whilst partaking in some Chinese New Year festivities along the way, and although much less subdued than a the New Year spent in Beijing in 2005 London still managed to get a great feel with the Chinese street parade. Being lovers of tea and having spent some time discovering tea houses on China, we had hoped that we could find similar in China town, but were largely disappointed to find there is no ‘traditional’ styled tea house. But what we found instead was a number of Chinese inspired ‘tea’ restaurants. Probably our favourite was, Yauatcha (15-17 Broadwick Street Soho). Alan Yau’s gorgeous all-day teahouse and dim sum restaurant serves 150 varieties of tea as well as 24 varieties of dim sum and a range of delicious pastries. Trendy (in Soho) but nice! Maybe not like the Chinese New Year I had imagined but then again China has been changing so fast that in one way, it epitomises all that modern China is about.

BBC Radio 4 – Specialty Teas

A great Radio 4 show highlighting how more people are discovering the world of fine tea. A growing number of consumers are discovering that there is more to tea than the everyday cup of ‘builders tea’; discovering that tea, like wine, is a direct expression of the tea’s unique geography, soil, weather and the skill and craftmanship of the tea grower, as well as tea specialist/buyer. It is now becoming easier, cheaper (and healthier) to learn more about tea and experience new tea varieties – the world of tea is a rich tapestry that rivals wine in its complexity and depth. Definitely worth a listen or download to your iPhone. 

BBC 4 Food - Speciality teas

“Speciality teas are the biggest growth area in the fairly static tea sector, as tea drinkers go in search of more interesting flavours, and stories. Sheila Dillon asks what’s driving this growth, and finds out what is on offer both in the mass market and the speciality tea companies, including The Rare Tea Company. The British are second only to the Irish in the amount of tea they drink but Henrietta Lovell wasn’t convinced they were getting a decent cuppa, so set up the company to bring ‘the good stuff’ to the nation’s mugs, including a surprising new tea from Malawi. African tea is traditionally regarded as low quality commodity tea best used in blended teabags, and lacks the cache of China tea or Indian Darjeeling. Henrietta has been working with a third-generation Malawian tea producer to bring a single estate ‘gourmet’ tea to the market, fit to rub shoulders with traditional premium teas. Sheila is joined in the studio by Bill Gorman from the UK Tea Council, which represents all the major tea brands in the UK, and Edward Eisler, founder of internet-based Jing Teas.”  Listen Now

The worlds most expenisve tea kettle by Bugatti?

From the makers of one of the world’s most exclusive supercars, comes an even more exclusive kettle – the Bugatti kettle! To truly appreciate your tea this kettle not only looks good but has settings to ‘boil’ at different temperatures – so slightly cooler for your white teas and green teas and very hot for the black teas. Not only that, but it also has a programmable timer so you can set it to go off just in time for your morning tea. Fantastic! We love it! It’s on our Christmas lists this year, albeit at £190 the list may be shorter than last year, but well worth it! But all her at Chateau Rouge are ecstatic, as we finally have a sports car that runs on Chateau Rouge tea, or is that Chateau Rouge tea that has its sports car… Available at John Lewis

A change is brewing…wider consumer trends now evident in changes to how we purchase and enjoy tea

‘After years where the emphasis has been on bland uniformity, far sighted companies are recognising a consumer hunger for personality, adventure and excitement. Here we examine this new spirit of individuality, and how one food lover is tapping into it to launch a tea range with a difference.’ 

Running counter to the idea that shoppers want perfection and consistency, there has been a surge in the popularity of vegetable box schemes (over 400,000 boxes of sometimes misshapen and muddy produce are delivered in the UK each week) and farmers’ markets (there are now over 550 in the UK). Likewise there are a growing number of online companies selling traditional breeds of meat, and it’s also being snapped up by key food trendsetters – chefs.

You may have noticed menus specifying Gloucester Old Spot’, ‘Middle White’, ‘Aberdeen Angus’ or ‘Longhorn’ rather than just ‘pork’ and ‘beef’. Even supermarkets are starting to realise the importance of provenance and variety: witness packs of pork chops bearing photographs of the farm from which they originate, the launch of ‘finer’ ranges extolling the pedigree of the ingredients involved, or cheese sections offering an impressive choice of farmhouse cheeses from around the country.

Read the full article as featured in ‘Making Life Richer’ article July’09, PDF: Chateau Rouge Tea – A change is brewing in food consumption trends

Why is leaf tea better than tea bags?

For most a good cup of tea starts with a normal tea bag (of the many brands currently available in the UK), but for most this also may mean missing out on truly superior tea. Before I completely destroy the tea bag, please note some tea bags are better than others out there – for the reasons explained below.

The main difference between loose tea and tea bags is the size of the leaves. That’s what affects the resulting cup of tea. Tea leaves contain essential oils and can be very delicate – making each tea slightly different from the other. When the tea leaves are broken up, those oils can evaporate, leaving the tea more bland and bitter – which is why you often need to add milk/sugar.

Typical tea bags are filled with the tiniest pieces of broken leaves, called fannings – also because by the way of making the tea bag you can’t fit large tea leaves in the bag. Loose teas are typically whole leaves or at least large pieces of leaves. Also, tea leaves need space to swell, expand and unfurl. Good water circulation around the leaves is important, which doesn’t typically happen in a little tea bag.

Other factors to consider when choosing you tea is the grade (eg TGFOP1) which denotes the leaf size for Indian teas (Darjeeling, Sikkim Temi or Fikkal Ilam). Even if you prefer a simple cup of black Keemun, or Assam (which is the major component of most bagged teas), try loose-leaf tea instead of in teabags – you wont regret it! Not even to mention the fact that leaf tea is a ‘greener’ more environmentally friendly product.