TEA PAIRING

Juliana Perpen, better known as Spicy Yuli, as she likes to be called, was born in La Línea, Cádiz, in southern Spain. A place so close to Gibraltar (UK), that Tea is deep inside its cultural background. Our Spanish representative grew up surrounded by Tea and spices and quite young left her homeland to work in tearooms both in Spain and also in England, till she started her own business, "Spicy Yuli", named for her alias and born in the heart of the fashionable Malasaña area in Madrid. Hundreds of Teas and spices, apart from other culinary delicacies and teaware are available in there together with her expertise and friendly hospitality. What about her magic potion to conquer the hearts of the jury in the TMC Spain 2017? A tea-pairing matching fragrant Assam Harmutty 1st flush with homemade chutney of nectarine and apricot as well as Spanish goat cheese with a hint of caramelised brown sugar, all of it served on a crunchy toasted English cracker of butter. What a mouthwatering tea-pairing!

Randomly, given that it was the fate, which decided Marisol González was the participant to start with, it's shown first place her "Nikkei" tea-pairing. "Nikkei" cuisine is not from Japan nor from Peru, she is herself, a perfect marriage of the two cuisines on which is based, and that was exactly Marisol's objective, to twin the Sencha's taste characteristic of the Empire of the Rising Sun with the sea flavour there is in a ceviche from Lima. The result, "Pacific", a perfect pairing with personality and name of its own. 

Oscar Wilde left a written record: No Tea meeting deserves the "Afternoon Tea" status without the presence of "Sir" Cucumber Sandwich at the table. Aware of so versatile gentleman's existence, Anna Poian dared to invite him and reinvent him with her "chinoise" versión, made from rice biscuit, butter, a pinch of sesame with red pepper and, of course, cucumber. A cucumber previously pickled in Pi Luo Chun tea kombucha, the same classical Chinese tea she created the pairing for.

Qintessence of the Japanese culture, its most popular Tea, Sencha, is not only brewed, its most tender leaves, once used far from being discarded are taken as ingredients of its cuisine. Among its best known tea-pairings are “Sencha-wazuke”, in which already brewed tea leaves are added on top of steaming fragrant rice, or “Sencha oitashi”, simply consisting in brewed tea leaves dressed with ponzu sauce (soya and citrics juice.) Connoisseur of Japanese tradition after spending several months studying in Japan, Verónica Hegar wanted to bring the “Sencha” to Spanish cuisine and show us how well a carpaccio of cod, with its salty taste and sea aroma, of intense “umami” flavour, melts in the mouth with a salad made of brewed Sencha leaves, combined with Japanese brown rice (genmai) roasted and dressed with soya and sesame oils. On top of this delicate snack, a pinch of sesame seeds to boost the flavours and enhance the textures. As ideal beverage, a Sencha cold macerated for more than six hours.

Qhizen Rao, connoisseur (as a Tea Master in Chinese Teas) of the taste and aroma there are in a Bi Luo Chun, quintessence and epitome of spring, impeccably brewed this tribute Tea, raised to such a status by the Chinese Emperor Kang Xi of the Qing Dynasty at the very precise moment when it was first tasted by him. On the surface of hot water, he placed its tender leaves, delicately hand-rolled snail-shaped, allowing us to enjoy the beauty of its opening, while descending towards the bottom of the kettle dying it in jade. At that moment, the expert hand poured rest of water to wake up its spring fragrance. In China, a sweet filling of green tea usually accompanies each sip, enhancing its freshness and taking us to the very Taihu Lake's shore in Dong Ting, birthplace of Bi Luo Chun, at the time of the year when Nature, after winter, renews herself.