In Turkey, guests are greeted with oriental coffee, in Turkish. In the backyards of Argentina, calabash with great mate is sure to be offered. But in Morocco, guests are treated to green tea with mint, which in their homeland, in the Greater Maghreb region, is called shāy bil n’anā’.
It is believed that tea was brought to Morocco by a British merchant during the Crimean War, in the 1850s. The merchant was taking the famous Chinese gunpowder tea to the Baltic states, but due to hostilities, he could not follow the usual route. But fate brought him to Morocco, where he sold the entire batch of tea. The merchant liked the new market, and loaded caravans with “gunpowder” (in English, gunpowder means gunpowder) sailed from China to the Great Maghreb (north-western African countries: from Mauritania to Libya).
Despite the ubiquity of mint tea in North Africa, it is most closely associated with Morocco, which is why the drink is often referred to as “Moroccan tea”. However, they prepare it in Spain and in the south of France, using imported tea, imported sugar and local mint for this. By the way, this is one of the first cases of globalization in the kitchen. True, the French prefer to drink shāy bil n’anā’ in the cold summer, while in their homeland it is always served hot.
Moroccan mint tea has become a ritual drink and today is the main component of public life in the Greater Maghreb countries. A similar case is Turkish coffee, which in Turkey is praised to the skies. In Morocco, only the head of the family prepares mint tea and serves it to the guest as a sign of hospitality. As a rule, a minimum of three glasses are served, and it is considered bad manners to refuse. Bars also serve this tea, where it primarily serves a social function – in the manner of alcohol in drinking establishments in Europe and North America.
Moroccan tea recipe: no imports
Gunpowder tea is traditionally used for Moroccan mint tea – its leaves are rolled into small balls that look like gunpowder. In his homeland, he is often called “Lu Zhu” or “Green Pearl”. It gives a very rich, tart drink with a slight bitterness. Other “strong” varieties of Chinese tea are also suitable, for example, Zhu Cha or Chun Mi. As for “gunpowder”, the smaller the granules, the better. A slight sheen on the surface of the balls indicates the freshness of the tea.
Every Moroccan family has a special tea set that includes a Moroccan teapot (berrad), tea glasses and a tray (siniya). There are, as a rule, two such sets: one for special occasions and one for everyday use.
If fate takes you to Morocco, do not take the opportunity to buy a formal tea service in one of the many markets
For us, the tray is not so important, but it is desirable to find an authentic teapot, because a ceramic one is not appropriate here – in the process, tea must be heated over an open fire. You can buy a Moroccan teapot online or find something similar. Painted tea glasses are not large – 90-120 ml, but if you could not find them, use small glasses for juice.
Moroccan sugar. A cone weighing 2 kg and bricks of 30 g.
A generous handful of fresh mint na’na (Mentha spicata) is as important to Moroccan tea as the rest of the ingredients. This type of mint has a very pronounced, pungent, but mild aroma. A slight omission is permissible here – you can take any mint that is at hand. Even in Morocco, in winter, when mint is gulkin’s nose, it is replaced with wormwood leaves (in the Moroccan dialect chiba or sheeba). Wormwood, as well as sage, lemon verbena, thyme and wild geranium, are often used with mint – this is not forbidden.
And finally, Moroccan tea is very bitter, so no sugar is needed. Its quantity, of course, can be chosen for yourself, but without it you will get a completely different drink. Professionals, and the Moroccans themselves, use pressed in the form of a cone. Ordinary refined sugar in the form of bricks weighing 30 g is also popular. If you could not get Moroccan sugar, use ordinary granulated sugar: 1 brick is approximately equal to 2,3 teaspoons of granulated sugar.
Cooking Moroccan Feng Shui Tea
- 1-2 tsp tea gunpowder
- 5-7 tsp. sugar (per weld)
- Large bunch of fresh mint
- 5 glasses of hot water
1. First you need to rinse the kettle with boiling water to remove dirt and heat it. Then add 1-2 teaspoons of Chinese “gunpowder” (for a 1 liter teapot, 2 teaspoons is optimal). Pour 1 cup of hot water into the kettle (almost boiling water, but not 100 degrees – 95-97 оC is optimal). Wait 40-60 seconds and pour the first brew back into the glass.
The first brew is called the “spirit” or “soul” of the tea.
The first brew must be saved and poured back a little later. The “soul” of tea is the most fragrant, as it first comes into contact with the leaves. And clean, amber.
2. Fill a glass of hot water again, wait a minute and drain it. This procedure is called “washing the tea”. After the first welding of the casting, the “gunpowder” should swell and absorb some of the liquid. The second brew will be cloudy – it contains tea dust, which is usually bitter in a gunpowder. You can wash the tea several times.
3. Mint should first be washed. The best way to do this is to lower a bunch of mint and other herbs, if you decide to add them, into a glass of water, turn it a little in different directions, and then raise it to make the vodka glass. Fill the kettle 2/3 full with hot water, and then add the “soul” of tea. Put the kettle on a slow fire and let the tea boil until bubbles appear on the surface.
4. Put mint in a teapot and add sugar – usually Moroccans take 5-7 teaspoons for one tea leaves (remember that 3 bricks of Moroccan refined sugar are equal to 7 spoons). The kettle should be almost full. If this is not the case, then add more hot water so that there is little room for boiling. Boil the tea again until the surface of the tea begins to foam. It’s time for some tea.
5. Remove the kettle from the heat. Moroccan mint tea is not stirred, but simply poured through a glass several times. That is, the tea is poured into a glass, and then, after a couple of minutes, it returns to the teapot again. It is enough to repeat the procedure 4-5 times. This can be done right in front of the guests. Now tea can be poured into glasses.
Bedouins prepare Moroccan tea right in the desert, on coals.
The Moroccan teapot has a strainer already built in, so tea and mint scraps do not fall into the glass. If you don’t get such a teapot, then use an ordinary tea strainer. Also note the long, curved spout of the teapot. It allows you to pour tea from a great height. Thus, the tea is “ventilated”, saturated with oxygen and slightly foamy. In glasses, you can add a small sprig of fresh mint. The kettle can be filled with water and boiled a couple more times, not forgetting to add a portion of sugar. As the famous proverb of the Maghreb says:
The first glass is tender, like life,
the second glass is strong as love,
the third glass is bitter as death.
Moroccan mint tea is traditionally served with any food, dried fruits and nuts, various sweets, or nothing at all.