Just to prove my obsession, here's more on the subject of tea...

Now I know, lot of people associate drinking tea with sweet pastries and such, as we do with coffee. Although I think tea is great for after dinner with some chocolate, I do often find myself having it with meals. These are some of my favourite combinations:

1.Earl Grey with gravalax and butter on rye bread, or bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. A match made in heaven, if there ever was one. Ok, fine, to the real tea enthusiast, Earl Grey is not so exciting, but I think it's a classic that never goes out of style, like the colour black or gin and tonic. My favourite at the moment is Earl Grey Blue Flower. Thankfully it does not taste of flowers, but they are there mainly to make it look pretty. And nothing wrong with that.

2.Good, strong, rough English tea. Buy Fair Trade or organic, if possible. I mean the tea the English can't imagine having without milk and think it will cure everything from broken hearts to headaches and upset tummies. I drink mine without milk though, and with Full English Breakfast: fried bacon, fried eggs, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, white toast with butter, white beans in tomato sauce. As food this unhealthy is probably illegal to serve in Finland, I have to make it myself and therefore it does not include chips, as making them yourself that time of the morning is simply too much to ask. Otherwise, chips, yes, yes, yes!

3.Green tea with Thai food. (I know, I know, the Thai people don't drink tea with their food, but maybe they too should try it...) To make green tea, you have to let the water cool down a bit after boiling, it should be about 70-80 degrees Celsius when it hits the tea leaves. But the food: think lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger, basil, mint, garlic, chili, gently steamed vegetables, silky noodles in a hot, aromathic broth with some fish sauce for flavour and saltiness and to accompany that, a lightly fragrant cup of green tea. I'm thinking about that a lot. My favourite at the moment is green tea with Wakame seaweed, lemon grass and lemon.