shehakol niyah bidvaro- tea as food
6 nisan 5781
as i have written about previously, i have a lot of dietary restrictions. bummer. food was a big part of my life. it was my career, it was what inspired me, it was a way that i expressed myself, and it was a way for me to connect to nature and other people. food still is all this for me, but it is something that also brings me a lot of stress these days.
i still love cooking and i really love cooking for others, but eating is the hard part. there are only certain foods i can eat and, especially during the winter, what i can eat is rarely what i want to eat.
that is why tea is so wonderful to me. here is something that maps very well onto the things i love about cooking. like food, tea is richly tied to years of culture including how it is continuing to evolve. similar to how i love the fun and hands on involvement of cooking, i love the act of pouring tea. i also love the aspect of sharing and hospitality that comes with sharing tea. in addition to the joy of being able to serve something wonderful and nourishing to someone, there is great joy in drinking tea with others.
i regularly talk about how basic and bare bones my teaware is. this is something i am proud of. what matters most is the tea, the water, and how it is prepared. yes, fancy teaware can beautify and enrich the atmosphere, and yes, fancy clay can enrich the quality of tea, but tea, water, and preparation are hands down the majority of what influences the quality of a cup of tea.
the same is for cooking. what matters most is the quality of the ingredients, how one utilizes heat, and how that heat is moderated over time. those are the most important things (and yes, properly salting something. if cooked well, salt is frequently the only seasoning you need).
tea is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, blah blah blah. it is something i can enjoy and delve into its aesthetic and sensual qualities like one does for food. only, as i’ve written recently, i don’t know how my stomach is doing with tea. this is an ongoing thing and hopefully it is just a minor hiccup as i find out what tea drinking habits are best for my body. i am only 29, but being born with a bunch of health problems, ive known from a young age what it is to no longer be able to enjoy the things that bring you pleasure. i need to find what i still can do and how to enjoy that best. i still want to be able to appreciate all the wonderful things there are in life even if i cant do a lot of what i used to.
xoxo,
atzei besamin
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