SMORGASBORD: Tea cuisine . . . Cookin creme . . . A new milk

Tea cuisine

Tea is for drinking to be sure, but what about tea for eating? Many of us know the marbleized tea eggs and tea-smoked duck of Chinese kitchens or the green tea ice cream found in many Asian restaurants, but how often have we encountered toolong-brined turkey, salmon lacquered in green tea or “smoky” black lentils cooked in lapsang souchong tea?

These are just some of the 150 recipes “steeped in tradition from around the world” to be found in a new book, “Culinary Tea,” (Running Press, $22.95). The authors are Cynthia Gold, tea sommelier at The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, one of the first chefs to explore the uses of “culinary” tea, and Lise Stern, a writer and author based in Cambridge, Mass.

“My goal is … to open people’s eyes to the exploration of an ingredient that belongs in all our kitchens,” Gold said.

Gold’s mission of “showing what tea can do” began about 14 years ago when she opened a new restaurant. She insisted on developing a strong tea program and went out of her way to find and purchase the best teas.

Cooking with tea goes beyond using the hot water-infused beverage. As Gold points out, tea can be steeped in cold water, oils, dairy products, vinegars, juices and even alcohol. She’s working on a book of tea-based cocktails.

Cooking creme

Want to spend more for a slightly altered version of a familiar product? Then new Philadelphia Cooking Creme is for you. It’s a version of cream cheese that you “simply stir in for creamy skillets and casseroles.” It comes in four flavors: “savory garlic,” Santa Fe, Italian cheese & herb and original.

Instead of buying or making some other sauce, you just stir a 10-ounce tub of one of the flavors into whatever you’re making. An entire 10-ounce tub — said to be four servings — is maybe just a bit too much for the pasta in a 7-ounce three-serving box of Kraft macaroni & cheese (skipping the cheese sauce), but it certainly is easy.

At one store, where an 8-ounce package of Philadelphia cream cheese is $2.39, a 10-ounce tub of Philadelphia Cooking Creme is $3.29.

A new milk

Flax USA on Monday launched the first and only Flaxmilk, all natural dairy- free beverages (available at Wal-Mart).

Research suggests that flax seed can have a wide range of biological and metabolic effects in humans and can be useful in the treatment and prevention of disease and maintenance of optimal health. Flaxmilk delivers 1,100 milligrams omega-3 fatty acids in every serving and comes in original or vanilla flavors.

For more information, check out www.flaxusa.com.

Tags: life, food, smorgasbord