[1] Most Asian countries serve tea in handle-less cups (photo © Kanaya Tea).

[2] These are freshly-picked tea leaves (photo © Paulina H | Unsplash).

[3] Matcha, originally a ceremonial tea only, has even smaller cups (photo © T2 | Unsplash).

If you eat at Asian restaurants, you may (or may not) have given a thought to the teacups. They don’t have handles. Since January is National Tea Month, we decided to ask why. Here’s a brief answer. You can read the whole article at TeaMuse, the blog of Adagio Teas.

The short answer is that various Asians cultures believe that if the cup is too hot to hold, the tea is too hot to drink.

But that’s not all.

Beginning with early man, who was nomadic, a minimum of possessions were carried. Food and drink were both consumed from bowls, so the evolution to handle-less cups was natural.

Fast forward to the e 18th and 19th centuries in Europe: Cups with handles took a while to evolve. It was not easy to attach a looped handle to a cup, and firing methods for various clays were still developing.

England was the leader in the development. Historians believe that the first cups with handles may have been more of a fashion than a utility, since these early handles often had curlicues, gilt, and images.

The handle slowly became a fixture of the British teacup. American, Bavarian, French, German, and Russian teacups followed suit.
 
 
THE PROPER TEMPERATURES FOR TEA

The proper tea brewing temperature can range anywhere from 140°F for specialty green teas to 212°F (a full boil) for black and herbal teas. There are plenty of gradations in between.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of personal taste, along with how you brew your tea (whether you pre-warm the teapot, the ratio of water to loose tea leaves, if the tea is finished by steaming or pan-firing, etc.).

You’ll see different temperatures in different articles, but here’s a guide. These are the temperatures used by tea connoisseurs to bring out the best in fine, loose-leaf tea. If you’re using an everyday tea bag, don’t sweat it.

 
 
TEA TRIVIA: WHY IS “TEACUP” ONE WORD BUT “COFFEE CUP” IS TWO?

Here’s a longer discussion of the issue, but to be brief:

 
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA
 
> THE HISTORY OF TEA BAGS
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEA

National Quinoa Day is January 16th, celebrating a whole grain* that came to prominence in the U.S. about a decade ago. Yet, many people have never tried it.

Those who have are nutrition-oriented, excited that quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wa or KEE-noo-ah) contains more high-quality protein than any other grain. In fact, it’s a complete protein: It contains all nine essential amino acids†. It’s equivalent to milk as a protein source. It’s also high in fiber, and is a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamins A, B and E, and zinc.

Cooked quinoa has nutty-earthy tones and is extremely versatile: It can be used in the place of almost any other grain, including rice, to make everything from appetizers to desserts.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is the Quechua (Inca) word for “mother grain” or “super grain.” A broad-leafed, annual herb, quinoa grows wild in the Andes Mountains of South America; it was first cultivated more than 5,000 years ago by the Incas and was, along with corn and potatoes, the foundation of the Andean diet.

The sad part of the story is that since quinoa became a sensation on the world stage, many of the poor farmers who grow it can no longer afford to eat it.

> The history of quinoa and more about this superfood.

> More ancient grains.

> The year’s 35+ grain holidays.

> Check out the recipes below.
 
 
COOKING WITH QUINOA

Quinoa seeds range in color from red, orange, and yellow to black or white. The tiny seeds are the principal crop.

Before consuming, quinoa seeds must be processed to remove their bitter coating of saponin. After washing or dry polishing, the ready-to-cook seeds are white, red, or beige in color. The spinach-like leaves, which unfortunately seldom reach the consumer, may be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach.

Cooked quinoa is delicious and extremely versatile; it may be used in the place of almost any other grain, including rice, to make everything from appetizers to desserts (make quinoa pudding instead of rice pudding). It has a slightly nutty flavor (red quinoa is the nuttiest), which makes it a good substitute for couscous or bulgur.

Quinoa has a unique texture as well. When cooked, the thin germ circlet falls from the seed and remains crunchy, while the pearly grain melts in the mouth.

If you don’t want to cook up a pot-ful, you can find heat-and-eat, microwavable quinoa from companies like Ancient Harvest, Earthly Choice, and Seeds Of Change.
 
 
QUINOA RECIPES

[1] Greek salad bowl with hummus, and quinoa. Here’s the recipe (photo © Baked Greens).

[2] Moroccan roasted carrots and quinoa. Here’s the recipe (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Quinoa fried rice topped with a fried egg (photo © P.F. Chang’s).

________________

*Although technically a seed, quinoa is classified as a whole grain.

†Amino acids are organic compounds composed of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, along with a variable side chain group. The body needs 20 different amino acids to grow and function properly. Though all 20 of these are important for your health, only nine amino acids are classified as essential. Lysine is an essential amino acid, along with histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. Unlike nonessential amino acids, essential amino acids can’t be made by the body and must be obtained through your diet. Here’s more about each essential amino acid and what it does in the body.

Nonessential amino acids are produced by the body, and are not contingent upon the foods we eat. Nonessential amino acids include: alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glutamine, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine.
 

[4] You can use quinoa as you would rice—as a base for just about anything—like the poke/sashii here (photo © Sushi Samba).
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Crusty country bread topped with fig jam, ricotta, San Daniele ham (a sweeter alternative to prosciutto) and arugula.

[2] Roasted ham, fresh figs and arugula on a baguette (photo © The Model Bakery | St. Helena, California).

January 16th is National Fig Newton Day, but we have no Newtons at hand. We do, however, have figs…and bread…and cheese…and ham. So we’re creating a savory Fig Newton sandwich for lunch, substituting fresh figs and fig jam for the Newton filling, and bread for the cookie portion. We have enough ingredients to make the sandwich in a number of ways:

 
When you make a ham sandwich, think of this:

While today ham is the food of Everyman, for a long time it was an elite meat: enjoyed by royalty and served by the affluent on special occasions. In the Roman Empire, it was served to emperors and their guests.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF SANDWICHES
 
> THE HISTORY OF HAM
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF HAM
 
> THE HISTORY OF FIGS