Food & Drink
September 2021
Le Grand Traité du Thé
by Mireille Gayet
The Great Treatise of Tea Tea, a word rich in meaning that whets imaginations! The story of the little leaves, the first infusion of which has been lost somewhere between history and legend, and is presented here according to its travels from original China and neighboring countries journeying all the way to the West and beyond, with the arrival of settlers, clergymen and merchants who have forever transformed its future, sometimes with blood and tears, making tea the most consumed beverage in the world after water. Appreciated or defamed according to the period, pure, blended or flavored, tea can be white, yellow, black, red, fermented or not, and its infusion can be sweet or salty, milky, lemony, spiced, or iced; so many different ways to be appreciated by tea-drinkers. Linked, from its origins to Taoism, Confucianism and especially Buddhism, tea remains associated with Nature, calm, serenity and has become the vehicle of ceremony, the most famous of which is the Japanese Tea Ceremony or the cha no yu , but also daily rites such as English Tea time. More importantly, tea is present on all tables around the world, from the wealthiest to the more modest. Tea is accompanied by an entire array of simple or sophisticated wares that sometimes take on national identities like the Russian samovar of the Moroccan Berrad. Tea truly offers us a vast program and endless subject matter! Mireille Gayet, author of numerous scientific and culinary works has won several awards for her writings. Here, in this new treatise, she takes on the fascinating history of tea — and covers, at the same time, botanical, medicinal, writing, art, religious, trade, and colonial aspects, etc. related to tea — a very complete, rigorously-researched and illuminating approach that includes the growing use of tea in cooking.
