The British and their tea

-
There is so much to say on this but in this post let me just talk about how it all came to happen. The Cutty Sark is one of the most famous tea clippers that carried tea from China to the UK. It holds the top rank for being one of the fastest and most profitable clipper  in the nineteenth century. Towards the end of its sea-life it carried wool from Australia and was sold to the Portuguese. A few months ago, I joined my SW19 buddies to see the restored Cutty Sark (following the awful arson attack a few years ago). We spent an enjoyable few hours wandering around the ship which is now a fun, interactive museum.

This is the  restored clipper.
 
 The Chinese connection



This is an artist's image of the bustling Victoria Dock in the early nineteenth century.





The tea timeline was fascinating.

Confession: I grew up believing that tea came from India and we taught the world how to grow it and brew it. It was a shock to discover that most tea plantations in India were the outcome of imperial ambitions, the right soil and plenty of workers. In all fairness, since ancient times Indians have had all sorts of boiled herb mixes with honey and sugarcane. We just didn't have use these particular leaves and didn't treat drinking the concoction as a fun 'time-pass' thing till the Brits came and turned it into a ritual. And now India can't move without its chai (or in some parts coffee but I reckon chai is still winning). I am firmly of the belief there is still nothing like Indian chai- at least we know how to do it properly i.e. with hot milk!




And to top off our visit, we headed out to the local weekend market. A sunny day out in Greenwich is unbeatable!

 

**************

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bangkok Chronicles: Walking with the Buddha

-
Image
It is a strange feeling indeed to be an Indian (of sorts) in Southeast Asia. Years ago, in smoke-filled pubs of London, it felt perfectly logical to have the Goodness Gracious Me -inspired argument that only one outcome was acceptable: ‘We did it first in India’. Fortunately, the pubs became smoke-free, and I could spend an evening without needing an instant dry-clean for my coat or a deep-cleansing hair wash after each visit. I digress, as usual. This time, as I traverse around Bangkok, I have been filled a growing realisation that indeed, many ideas, beliefs and practices did emerge first in India. Equal is the wonder at how delicately they got assimilated in the local culture and acquired a uniqueness that can only be described in this trite but useful phrase- same same but different . Lest you await the hackneyed confession ‘I truly found myself’ (and there are many ways of finding oneself in Bangkok!), let me assure you there has been no such miraculous moment of discovery for me....
Read more

Bangkok Chronicles: The river

-
Image
On a cold January morning, by the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, I ushered in 2024 with my family. Back in Delhi, the smog showed little sign of receding. Through the smoky and dust-hued sky, we occasionally witnessed shards of sunlight, a reminder that our planet's bright star has not abandoned us just yet. Fortunately for me, a new adventure awaited. Before the month was over, I had landed about 3000 km east of India in Thailand. Upon alighting from the plane, my jacket was promptly stuffed at the bottom of the suitcase. Within 24 hours I was hitting the shops to buy t-shirts. Because, as everyone knows, you can never have enough t-shirts in a hot and humid country. Over the last few months I have been serenading my social circle with a Whats App-based photo journal. It is finally time to do the proper thing, which is to pen down my experiences for immortality (or till robots take over the earth). I had been to Bangkok several times before as a tourist. H...
Read more

Bangkok Chronicles: 'Veggie Delight' gets a new meaning

-
Image
In the early days, just like the fruits, the vegetable section of supermarkets continued to fill me with more questions than answers. The translation software on my phone was of little use, as many of these were labelled 'native vegetable'.  Eventually, I decided to chuck a new veggie in my basket each week and work out later what it was, and how best to cook it. Here is a small selection of the more unusual and the interesting ones. There are several I had seen before but never tried. Others, as I discovered in my online searches, were well-known in parts of India. I just hadn't come across them while growing up in Delhi, or my family had not experimented enough - an oversight they are now addressing as they regularly share their own funky recipes. Winged beans This is undoubtedly one of my favourite finds. I first tasted these in a delectable salad at an upmarket hotel in Bangkok. It was absolutely scrumptious and I confess, I have never been able to replicate that exact ...
Read more