The Moroccan Tea : between History & culture

The mint tea is a tea obtained by the infusion of green tea leaves (of gunpowder type) and spearmint (from Nanah type), along with lots of sugar. This tea is a traditional specialty of the cuisine of the Maghreb countries.

 

The mint tea is not only drunk during meals, but throughout the day. It is especially the drink of hospitality. Unlike cooking, made by women, tea is traditionally a man's affair prepared by the head of the family, it is served to the guest and will not refuse.

Its preparation and taste varies by region of the Maghreb but in general it is more strong in southern Morocco. In some areas, we add some pine nuts, sage, verbena, honey, cinnamon, etc. Mint is usually the Nanah mint, common in North Africa. Moreover, especially in winter when mint is unusual, it happens that replaces it with wormwood leaves (or chiba ch'hiba in Maghrebi dialect), which give the tea a very pronounced bitterness.

Whether what became a central element of social life in the Maghreb, the mint tea is, in fact, historically rather recent. We think it is rooted in the willingness of the British had to find the nineteenth century, new markets for tea, they had developed culture in their Indian empire. The closure of the Slavonic market after the Crimean War had indeed led to a serious crisis market opportunities.

 

 

The tea is prepared from green tea and a bunch fresh spearmint, as well as a large amount of sugar. The teapot is first scalded. Then added the tea that is "cleaned" by putting a small amount of boiling water which is discarded after one minute left in the teapot. After having put the sugar and mint, fill the teapot with boiling water and left to infuse for two to three minutes. It then performs two to three times a glass that can immediately reverse in the teapot in order to oxygenate the water and give more flavor to the brew. This is then periodically tasting the tea in a glass, for determining when the infusion is carried out perfectly. Optionally is added sugar and mint tea if missing.

 

 

The tea is then served, often very high, in order to deposit a thin top glasses foam corolla. The presence of foam is considered a sign of successful infusion. More prosaically, this mode service allows to oxygenate and thus enhance the taste of tea. Traditionally, tea is served three times. The peculiarity of the service is due to the fact that it keeps the tea leaves and spearmint in the teapot, which continue to infuse. As to services, the changes resulting beverage flavor and appearance (the first light, the second balanced, very astringent and bitter to the last).