US versus Germany II

I celebrated July 4th in England by writing a bit more about how tea compares in the US versus Germany; how do you like that, colonial masters?!

As previously noted, there are a few differences in brewing chai in the US versus Germany. But the pot, heat source and water are pretty similar between the two countries. So what are the differences? Read on…

Milk
Since the milk:water ratio has to me a big impact on the taste of chai, I suspect one and/or both of these ingredients individually contributes substantially to the taste. Luckily, the water in Dresden is terrific and doesn't change the chai taste that I'm used to. Perhaps predictably, Germans love milk (even if it's mostly for the kidlets) so 1.5% milk is not at all rare here. (Curiously, skim milk is kinda hard to find)

Tea
Germany is certainly not a heavy tea-drinking country. But, it is international and has access to stuff that the US does not. So I use PG Tips loose black tea here, which I think is imported from the UK. PG Tips is a CTC tea, so is similar to Brooke Bond Red Label or Lipton Yellow Label in the US. In fact, Brooke Bond may be the same thing as PG Tips, and both PG Tips and Lipton Yellow Label are manufactured by Univlever! (Aside: the tea in Germany is so-so, but the coffee is insanely spectacular!! I'm pretty sure I'm being spoiled by the coffee, and perhaps am turning into a coffee drinker. Shhh... But I'd argue that my homemade chai is still pretty delicious!)

Masala
In Dresden, we're very close to a couple good Indian grocery stores. So cinnamon (Zimt in German), cardamom (Kardamom), ginger (Ingwer) and black pepper (schwarzer Pfeffer) are easy to find. The spices are also in the German grocery stores, but one just has to hunt a little to recognize the German names.

Summary

• Pot: identical
• Heat source: identical
• Water: similar
• Milk: similar
• Tea: similar
• Masala: similar

So there aren't any substantial differences. Not bad, eh? Next time I'll tell you about a (minor) tweak to the brewing technique. Maybe it's surprising that it's so easy to make chai here. Maybe not. Either way, I'm happy with the results. That's what counts, right?!

US versus Germany I

Chai is delicious. It is also universal. So the challenge is: how can I approximate the chai I know and love from the US, using ingredients, tools and techniques in Germany? Luckily, it's not that hard. It just requires a little flexibility.

Here, I'll compare and contrast a few ingredients (pot, heat and water) for making chai in the US versus Germany. In the subsequent post, I'll touch on the other ingredients (milk, tea and masala). Lastly, I'll compare and contrast how the techniques differ.

Pot
As many folks who put up with me on a daily basis could tell you, I'm pretty particular about the pot I use to make chai. My favorite 'chai pot' for the past couple years has been a 3L, hard-anodized, non-stick stock pot with spouts and a filtered lid.

These features make it easy to handle large volumes, distribute the heat nicely, a cinch to clean, amenable to pouring and easy to filter out large objects like bags of tea, respectively. So I'm kind of in love with this pot. I insisted reasoned to Shruti's chagrin delight that we not only ship the pot from the US to Germany, but that we don't use oils or aromatics in it other than those in chai. Luckily, she agreed.

Heat source
Glass top ranges are far inferior to gas ranges. You can't control heat with glass top stoves, they stay hot for too long and crap easily burns on them (these things are all linked). But, a glass top range is what I used in our kitchen in Philadelphia and in Germany. So I play by its rules - more on that in a later post.

Water
I start with tap water both in the US and in Germany. I reason (which means I'm probably wrong) that you boil the water and change its taste so much by brewing chai that the starting water probably doesn't much matter. That said, there are questions about the tap water quality in Philadelphia thanks to 'fracking' around the area (eep!). In contrast, Dresden's tap water is awesome. Someone knowledgable in water quality would probably argue  that this has to do with the water's origin in nearby, elevated Sächsische Schweiz and the high quality of Dresden's water mains. This make sense to me, but I lack the knowledge to elaborate so talk to your local water quality expert for details.


Summary

• pot: is identical in US versus Germany
• heat source: identical in US versus Germany.
• water: tap water is OK in both US and Germany, for chai. I much prefer Germany's tap water for routine drinking straight from the tap, though.

So, no huge differences between the US and Germany… yet. Stay tuned!

Update: check out this recent piece on water quality in beer making over at NPR for some surprises! I especially like that they highlight the term "craft beer" and as opposed to "art beer".  h/t Julian

Fresh ginger

Thanks for visiting! It's been some time since I've updated the site, so I've changed the design as I delve into some fresh topics.

Today I'm going to experiment a bit with ginger. Ginger is the rhizome of the plant, Zingiber Officinale. The plant's name may derive from the Sanskrit word "singabera" which means "horn shaped," and with just a little imagination describes ginger's shape. Indeed, ginger is used widely in South Asian and East Asian cuisine.

In the basic chai recipe, I suggested adding dried ginger powder to the masala. Ginger powder gives a nice taste, but one that pales in comparison to fresh ginger. Fresh ginger also imparts aroma, warmth, and health benefits - including GI relief and anti-inflammatory properties - that ginger powder cannot.

How might we optimize addition of fresh ginger to chai? Since ginger's properties stem largely from compounds in its flesh, I reasoned that increasing the surface area of the flesh will enhance the chai. [for fellow geeks out there, I'm actually striving for a high surface area/volume ratios...]

To test this, I made three batches of chai, all using roughly the same starting mass of fresh ginger. Each batch, though, used ginger that was grated/chopped in ways that led to different surface areas of the flesh. I subjected my wife to gave my wife the pleasure of trying each batch without telling her the type of ginger I used; she served as a blind taster here.

Conditions

1. Coarsely diced ginger (low surface area)

2. Finely chopped ginger (medium surface area)

3. Grated ginger (with a microplane zester; high surface area)

Details

1. Heat 1 cup water

2. While water is heating, prepare and add the ginger *note I did not add masala to any condition

3. When water is boiling, reduce heat to simmer and add 1.5 tsp loose tea

4. Steep tea for 3 minutes

5. Add 1 cup milk and return to a boil

6. Remove from heat, strain

7. Add 2 tsp sugar, stir and enjoy!

Results

The coarsely chopped ginger was the negative control: it had no aroma, and no taste to speak of. The finely chopped ginger resulted in chai that was well-balanced: the aroma and taste were certainly present, but not overpowering. The grated ginger had very strong aroma and taste, and elicited the feeling of warmth that one expects from ginger, but that the finely chopped ginger did not provide. The grated ginger was similar to Adrak Chai (literally, ginger tea).

Conclusion

Since we were having this tea for breakfast, we wanted something that was relatively simple to make, yet had the 'kick' that ginger can provide. In this sense, the finely chopped ginger is the winner. For afternoon tea and/or as a digestive, though, Adrak Chai hits the spot. For this, then, I would use grated ginger.

Short story

• For subtle ginger flavor, finely chopped ginger works best
• For hit-you-in-the-face ginger flavor, grated ginger is great

Outlook

• Presumably the time one adds the ginger matters. Add it too soon, and the gingerols and other compounds may break down in the hot water. Add it too late, and not enough of ginger's compounds may leach out. Relative to the chopping/grating technique, how much does the timing matter?
• Similarly, the amount of time in between chopping/grating and using the ginger makes a difference. Use it too soon, and the flavorful compounds may not reach the surface. Use it too late, and the flavors may have leaked out onto your cutting board. What is the right timing here?
• What is the best way to store ginger? I typically wrap freshly cut ends in aluminium foil for up to a week or so. But I've heard other methods (e.g., freezing) work well also. What's your method?

I'm sure you have opinions about the use of ginger and the questions I posed. I'd love to hear them!