Tea has always been part of the meal. Now, a new gastronomic approach is asking us to reconsider what the leaf can do beyond the cup.
In my home, tea does not end at the pot. The leaves are the beginning of the meal, not a prelude to it.
My parents were tea planters in Assam. To this day, when I walk through a garden, I replicate their movement—my hand moves before my mind does. I automatically pop young tea buds into my mouth.
What I did not understand then, and only understand now as a tea taster and sommelier, is that I was being given two educations simultaneously. One came from my family kitchen: the tradition of cooking, recipes using whole tea leaves, and tea being served as water while dining. The other came from the industrial discipline of tea tasting.
