International Tea Day 2024: Date, History, Significance, and How To Celebrate

Chai, shai, cha, te, tea, teh — one beverage with differing but easily distinguishable names has the world wrapped around its little finger. It works as morning refresher, day-long pick-me-up and post-sunset fatigue-buster, but tea isn’t just a beverage anymore; it has plopped into food and dessert, too.

Go beyond just sipping on your tea, add it to food, too(Pexels)

Why just sip on tea? Cook with it. Tea connoisseur Kavita Mathur says, “One can make delightful tea-marbled eggs by boiling eggs and then steeping them well with a teaspoon of Assam black tea after slightly cracking the eggshells. Leave the eggs in the tea for half an hour, and voila! The marbled eggs are ready to serve. This is best paired with a hot cup of English breakfast tea and buttered toast.”

Dishes such as tea leaf salad and fried rice with tea leaf are highlights of Burmese cuisine. “The tea leaf salad is made with laphet, tossed with fried garlic, nuts, sesame seeds, lettuce, and tomatoes and it is packed with flavours and textures,” shares chef Ansab Khan of the restaurant chain, Burma Burma, adding, “This is a unique delicacy where 80% of the country’s tea production is used to make Laphet — fermented and pickled tea leaves.”