Turn to Tea to Up the Culinary Side of Thanksgiving
Two weeks from today most of us will sit gathered around tables groaning with familiar foods. Turkey and stuffing. Warm, sage-laced gravy. Mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. Creamed corn and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie and plenty more. The annual spectacle of gratitude, uniquely American, enlivens us every year.
Among many things, we adore how the foods align with the season, late autumn. And we also appreciate the tradition—this is no time for pad thai. But tasteful culinary experimentation always holds potential for any feast. With Thanksgiving, all of the standards are required. But might a dash of chile pepper here, a whisper of curry powder there awaken and thrill taste buds? Absolutely.
To this end, we invite you to consider incorporating tea into the recipes behind your favorite Thanksgiving recipes. Remember, tea is an agricultural product. As such, it brings its own botanical charms to cooking, just as herbs like thyme and vegetables like onions do the same.
In addition, tea is much more than the kind of black leaves that most Americans are familiar with—the type of Camellia sinensis that goes into making iced tea, or gets served at diners. Traditional tea, Camellia sinensis, yields a tremendous diversity of flavors, aromas and textures. And when you consider that the broad tea category also includes herbal blends, then tea’s range is truly staggering.
Each tea delivers its own kind of flavor punch to the Thanksgiving feast. This year, leverage its glory for the sake of America’s annual celebration of thanks.
Tea for the Thanksgiving Table: Mile High Chai-Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Most Thanksgiving foods, in our opinion, could get in on the tea action. Even cranberry sauce. Among them all, though, we do think sweet potatoes offer the most potential. The naturally sweet root vegetables take well to classic Thanksgiving spices—and chai can come packed with these bold flavors. Consider steeping our Mile High Chai into the milk you’ll add to whipped sweet potatoes. This custom blend contains black tea, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black peppercorn, fennel seeds, licorice and allspice. When added to sweet potato dishes they can gently perfume—rather than overpower—the preparations with these warm flavors.
Tea for the Thanksgiving Table: Lapsang Souchong-Smoked Turkey Brine
Many Thanksgiving celebrations feature both a centerpiece bird as well as a breast on the side, often smoked separately in a smoker. We embrace the turkey two-fer, and encourage you this year to consider brining the side breast in an elixir featuring our wonderful Lapsang Souchong tea. Tea artisans apply wood smoke to tea leaves to make Lapsang Souchong, a process that yields a notably woodsy flavor. If you strong-brew some of our Lapsang Souchong and add it to the breast brine, it’ll produce a smoky cut of poultry—without needing to park the bird in a smoker for hours.
Tea for the Thanksgiving Table: Cape Town Medley Rooibos-Glazed Carrots
With its plethora of root vegetables and its emphasis on sage for seasoning, we think Thanksgiving broadcasts especially earthy vibes. And as one of the earthiest teas in the world, rooibos fits squarely within the Thanksgiving culinary milieu. The flavors bring to mind nuts, but they also can come across as honeyed, with elements of vanilla and even caramel. It’s an outstanding cooking partner. Our Cape Town Medley Rooibos conveys all of the above, but we also add pomegranate, pomelo, orange, safflower and carrot to this remarkable blend. To give a Thanksgiving carrot dish the rooibos treatment, brew a strong cup of rooibos tea and mix it with honey, butter and a bit of ginger. Toss the glaze over carrots and roast them for a warm, subtly spiced flavor. The glaze complements, and enhances, carrot’s natural sweetness.
