Arts, Culinary Art

Rose Tea in Spring

Bring the vitality of blooming flowers to your springtime refreshment menu.

Text by Jared Pearman
Photography by Hsuyi Shih

“Drink magnolia dew in the morning; chew chrysanthemum petals in the evening.” So says an ancient Chinese proverb extolling the taste and healing properties of flowers.

Blooming flowers are a great match for our body’s vital energy needs in spring. But instead of just looking at them in bouquets and the garden, bring their healing power inside through floral teas. Rose tea, for example, is a great match for the body’s need to stretch, open up, and clear out the stagnated qi that accumulates in winter.

According to the traditional Chinese medicine book Herbal Justice by Zhang Shanlei (1873–1934), “Roses, clear and unturbid, mild and not fierce, nourish the liver and increase appetite, promote the flow of qi and blood, dredge stagnation without bringing pungency or dryness. Among all the medicines for qi-fen diseases (a syndrome of progression of disease from exterior to interior, i.e. interior heat syndromes), the most effective and mildest is the ambrosial and unmatchable rose.”

Rose tea is a simple, elegant way to embrace the season. Serve it with a plate of tantalizing, golden, handmade almond tuile cookies on a spring afternoon. Everyone will leave with rosy cheeks and big smiles.

Rose Tea:

Pour boiling water into a teapot containing 18g roses and 3g black tea leaves. Cover teapot with lid. Steep 10 minutes. Add sugar to taste.

Almond Tuile Cookies:

Ingredients (for 6 cookies):
1 egg white
25g berry sugar
25g low-gluten flour
10g butter
70g almond flakes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F). Sift flour with strainer. Melt butter.
2. Separate egg. Mix the egg white with flour and sugar; stir mixture into a smooth batter.
3. Add lukewarm butter to batter and stir evenly. Pour almond flakes into batter. Mix carefully to avoid crumbling the almonds.
4. Pour six equal portions of the batter onto a large, nonstick baking sheet. Dip fingers or a spoon into water and use it to spread each portion into a thin round with a diameter of about 9 cm and even thickness.
5. Put baking sheet into oven. After baking for 12 minutes at 150°C (300°F), reduce heat to 130°C (265°F), and continue baking 10 to 20 minutes, until browned.