Yum Cha ("Drink Tea") Or How to Have Your Tea and Eat It, Too!

Cookbook lovers will say there are cookbooks, and then there are COOKBOOKS!  This very large, exquisitely beautiful book from the Peninsula Hotel belongs on coffee tables because it is a work of art, and of course, in the kitchen so you can try the unique recipes.  

My daughters, Kristina and Kara, recently spent New Year's Eve at The Peninsula in Chicago, which you can read about on Kristina's Better Recipes blog.  Be sure and check out her gorgeous gallery of photos from the hotel.  Suffice it to say, their experience was so incredible, they literally did not want to leave.  All they want to do now is visit the Peninsula Hotels across the country and Asia.  The Peninsula offers the best of comfort and beauty in a natural way, from the rooms to the dining experience.  Peninsula kitchens use top-quality ingredients and prepare foods in a healthy manner, with organic ingredients, pristine seafood, and foods from sustainable sources.  The girls met with chef Curtis Duffy, who explained everything about the Peninsula kitchens and their food philosophy, and even gave Kristina a sample of something new to try, black cardamom pods!

This is the second cookbook from The Peninsula Hotels.  The other is simply called, "Flavours," which I will write about in a future blog.  For now, let's turn to this lovely book which features recipes made with tea.  Each recipe includes elements of tea ranging from seafood to pastas to desserts.  Like fine wine, tea comes in a variety of flavors, bouquets, and vintages.  The recipes will enable you to experience the depth and versatility of tea.  For an appetizer, you might try the Earl Grey Tea-Cured Salmon with Fennel and Blood Orange Salad.  A soup choice could be the Ginger Chicken Soup with Ceylon Tea.  A seafood selection that appealed to me is the Seared Ahi Tuna with Coconut-Braised Fennel and Jasmine Tea Rice.  Since I grow lavender in my garden, I would like to try the Lavender Tea-Crusted Quail with Citrus Couscous.  You can't forget dessert, so how about a Chocolate Tart with Oolong Tea Sherbet, or a Warm Peach and Almond Cake with Raspberry Tea Sorbet?  I think my heart just skipped a beat.

Okay, I think I've seen enough.  I'm ready to go; how about you?!