Xinj-naan
More Central(-ish) Asian foodie delights (see entry passim): the markets of Kashgar. Yum. Mind you, I'm bound to be enamoured of any society which makes tea the focus of every social gathering:
"Tea is so central in Uyghur social life that it is almost regarded, along with bread, as a staple food. It is always offered to guests upon arrival, and is drunk before, during, after and between meals. Many people in the countryside live almost entirely on bread and tea, and only eat cooked meals once or twice a week. Black tea is the favourite Uyghur drink, and it is often steeped with sugar, black pepper, cardamom, deep-orange safflower petals or curative herbs. In Kashgar teahouses, men of all ages gather to gossip with their friends. They kneel or sit cross-legged on carpeted platforms, around low tables dotted with tea bowls, teapots and platefuls of bread. Many of the older men carry newspaper wraps of mysterious herbs and spices in their jacket pockets, which they tip into their own teapots."
I know that cardamom is often used to flavour coffee - it combats the bitterness - but I've never put it in tea. I'll give it a shot.
"Tea is so central in Uyghur social life that it is almost regarded, along with bread, as a staple food. It is always offered to guests upon arrival, and is drunk before, during, after and between meals. Many people in the countryside live almost entirely on bread and tea, and only eat cooked meals once or twice a week. Black tea is the favourite Uyghur drink, and it is often steeped with sugar, black pepper, cardamom, deep-orange safflower petals or curative herbs. In Kashgar teahouses, men of all ages gather to gossip with their friends. They kneel or sit cross-legged on carpeted platforms, around low tables dotted with tea bowls, teapots and platefuls of bread. Many of the older men carry newspaper wraps of mysterious herbs and spices in their jacket pockets, which they tip into their own teapots."
I know that cardamom is often used to flavour coffee - it combats the bitterness - but I've never put it in tea. I'll give it a shot.