Sometimes you just don’t need a recipe to know what your body craves. This is one of those days, because I have a bad cold. One of those I don’t want to do anything at all kind of colds.
I have been battling it for 5 days. It started typically enough with a scratchy throat. By the next day I had a stuffy nose, but no fever. In fact if it weren’t for the stuffy nose I would have said I felt just fine. I had just about convinced myself that it was not a cold at all, just a mild allergy flair up.
But, alas sometime in the night these sniffles moved into my chest and sat down with a great heavy thud! My chest is so congested that it actually feels as if a great big bear is sitting on it while sticking a long feather down my throat. Tickling away for his own amusement. The tickle leads to a cough, the cough leads to hack and the hack brings up some of the nastiest stuff you’d ever want to see.
The only way to calm the tickle and stop the process is to drink warm tea. And I mean constantly. But a man’s gotta eat too. So it’s toast for me. Tea and toast with a little butter and honey for comfort.
I am actually a fairly picky tea drinker too. Especially when I don’t feel well. So I have chosen an oolong tea, for the comfortable way the name rolls off the tongue. It’s part of the process that puts me in the proper mood to heal.
My oolong is of course a Chinese tea. Technically called Wuyi Rougui. It is the fifth and latest tea bush to be added to the line up of China’s famed five “Rock Teas†originating from Mount Wuyi in Northern Fujian, China.
It is also known as Cassia Oolong, Wu Yi Cassia Oolong, Bohea Cassia, Yu Gui, Jade Cassia Oolong.
It ain’t cheap, but it’s what I need. It has been hard wood charcoal roasted for 26 hours and has strong thick leaves that are nicely rolled into strips. The leaves vary in color from reddish to dark and are speckled through with a greenish touch.
It’s has a strong tea taste which blends pleasantly with the slight cinnamon flavor. But its bitter-sweet finish has a subtle floral taste.
Somehow writing this makes me feel better. I knew you guys could help! GREG
SERIOUS FUN FOOD
Greg Henry
SippitySup
Don’t forget, Greg, you have a trained Wine Consultant in the family. Yes an un-oaked white Burgundy such as a nice Premier Cru Chablis would be perfect, but for smaller budgets don’t forget about the simple, crisp wines from Montagny (Cote Chalonnaise) and Macon. Of course, nothing wrong with a Loire Sauvignon Blanc such as Sancerre, but my favorite mussels pairing may still be a Muscadet.
…my brother Grant knows his wines. I probably should have asked him. To be honest a Muscadet crossed my mind. It’s so great with those big diverse platters of “fruits de mer”. But I wondered if the saffron and mustard were too assertive in the case of these mussels. What do you think Grant (or anyone else for that matter)? GREG
Added to eternal bookmarks! Even though most of our dinners end up paired with (gulp) Miller Lite, I like wine and I really do enjoy a good vino with dinner- The problem is that I’m not quite proficient enough to feel really comfortable with my recommendations and this will certainly help that. Thanks!
the site is new to me too, so we’ll see what is has as it goes along.
I’m woefully ignorant when it come to wines… I mean, I know what I like and what I don’t, I can pair reasonably well if given a taste, but I have pretty much no idea which grapes/terroir exhibit which characteristics. Considering I work in an Italian restaurant with a great wine list, surrounded by sommolier wannabes, it’s sorta sad that when selecting the most recent bottle I brought home I said “I like the one with the people on the lable.” It was a Dolcetto D’Alba.
Here’s another site you might enjoy- you can look up different wines, and then check out a list of recipes to pair.
http://www.italianmade.com/home.cfm
are exagerating. But I know what you mean it can all be mind boggling. Just when I start to understand that one area new area come to my attention. GREG
Wine is my arch nemesis… not too good with pairings. I think it’s good to let my friends choose because then I know they’ll be guaranteed to like it, and they’ll get a good feeling of ‘hey I helped!’
Good to see there isn’t another Sideways site out there.
Greg
Thanks for the great tip, I started working one day a week (for the discount, i’m there way too much as a customer) at a local gourmet food and wine store. While I know enough to recomend a wine to a customer I could definately study up a bit! I will be heading over to learn more!
Sometimes these things just fall into your lap through the luck of the internet, or is it something more mystic guiding our fates? GREG