After a refreshing alternative wine, water or fruit juice to complement your meal in flavour and origin?
Tea is a healthy, refreshing and delicious complement to food. Inspired by some of the dishes we’ve discovered on our sourcing trips over the years, we’ve teamed up with Carolyn and Chris Caldicott, authors of “World Food Café,” “The Spice Routes” and “Bombay Lunchbox” to develop a series of simple, tasty recipes and tea pairings.
See below for how to make our first recipe in this series...
Traditional Iron Buddha and Mushroom Lettuce Boats
Add some zest to the lunch with these mushroom and fresh herb lettuce wraps.
For the Filling
Fill small crisp lettuce leaves with julienne cut carrot and pepper, whole basil and mint leaves and oyster mushrooms fried in a splash of oil until golden and crunchy. Spoon a little chilli and sesame oil marinade over the top just before serving.
For the Marinade
To make enough marinade for four, with extra for dipping, mix the juice of a lime with one tablespoon of light soy sauce, one dessertspoon of sesame oil and three tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce.
Tea Pairing: Traditional Iron Buddha
There is a lot going on in this dish - sweetness, chilli, aromatic basil, crisp lettuce and of course those fried mushrooms. Traditional Iron Buddha strength stands up well to all the exciting flavours and is a specially good accompaniment to the rich mushroom centre.
What's your favourite tea and food pairing?
