No. 3495 — Tea
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3495 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
The author considers the finest teas sold by the Kyakhta firms of Koreshchenko, Perlov and Botkin. Ordinarily use 1 teaspoon tea for 4 people.
Cover the teapot with a towel. If it is placed on a samovar, leave it there only briefly. Let the tea infuse but never boil, or it loses flavour and fragrance.
Serve tea with fresh unheated cream or milk, lemon, preserves, fruit sugar, cranberry fruit drink, wine or rum.
For a large household, many guests or gatherings of students, the author recommends using a small, carefully kept samovar instead of an ordinary teapot. Boil water in it, close the lid and wait until the vigorous boiling stops.
Lower tea tied in a clean piece of muslin with a long, thin ribbon for easy retrieval into the samovar until approximately halfway down. Use 1 teaspoon tea for every 4 people.
After a quarter of an hour, pour this strong infusion into glasses, diluting each with clean boiled water from a second, larger samovar. The author says this keeps the strength uniform for everyone and consumes less tea than repeated additions to a teapot.
The general advice is not to infuse tea with vigorously boiling water. Bring water to a boil, cover the samovar, and brew as soon as the vigorous boil stops; the author believes the infusion is better.
The original calls boiled tea harmful to health. It suggests putting a lump of sugar into the teapot, claiming this helps the leaves unfurl and release their essence, and says a tiny pinch of soda is believed by some to make the tea stronger and tastier.