Tea, at first glance such an innocent drink (especially compared to vodka or whiskey, major words), has been a source of discord in relations between Great Britain and the United States since in 1773 the Massachusetts colonists threw no less They sent three hundred boxes of the infusion to the port of Boston in protest of the taxes that the metropolis demanded. It was one of the triggers of the American Revolution.
The current crisis is not that serious, and it will surely not endanger the so-called “special relationship” between the two countries, but in these latitudes it has not been amusing that the North American professor Michelle Francl, from the University of Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania, He tried to teach the British a lesson and tell them how to prepare tea. Her recipe, considered an aberration here, consists of adding a pinch of salt (sugar or not, that's another debate), because in her opinion, sodium blocks the chemical mechanisms that make the drink bitter.
The interference in what could be considered an internal British matter has unleashed the anger of the press in this country, especially the most sensational, which has accused the teacher of being no one to say how to prepare a cup of tea, and even less so coming from a country where until two news programs ago coffee consisted of a blackish aguachirri, and where even today there are those who eat a seafood platter with a glass of milk. We could go that far!
Francl, who perhaps because of her knowledge of chemistry considers herself an expert on the subject, has prepared an entire report on the matter, citing centuries-old documents as sources. In addition to the pinch of salt, she firmly states that the tea bag must be immersed quickly and squeezed, to eliminate the acidic taste of the tannin created by the caffeine when it slowly dissolves. She recommends a thick cup, not too tall and heated beforehand so that it preserves the temperature and releases the antioxidants. In order to eliminate the lumps that sometimes form, she suggests squeezing a few drops of lemon. She says that the aroma is as important as the taste (for that you don't need to have a degree from any university, not even Harvard), and that if you drink from a paper cup (horror!), it is better to remove the lid. As for the milk, it has to be added last, and warm. Lastly, she suggests that you can decaffeinate it by soaking it for thirty seconds, removing the liquid, and then adding a splash of fresh water.
The diplomatic incident is nothing more than a prelude to what is to come if in the fall Trump wins the North American elections and Labor Starmer the British ones – the transatlantic relationship will spark – to the point that the United States embassy has been seen forced to issue a statement distancing itself from Michelle Francl's tea recipe (deep down, although it is a thorny issue, it is less delicate for the Biden government than criticizing Brexit, let alone Netanyahu).
“Tea is an elixir of camaraderie that cements the friendship between our two nations, and we cannot remain impassive in the face of an outrage that endangers the bilateral relationship,” states the text released by the embassy. We want to assure the good people of the United Kingdom that the notion of adding salt to the British national drink is not official State Department policy. And it never will be.”
Since the Boston Harbor episode, as if it were a curse, drinking has been a source of bad feeling between Americans and Britons. A few years ago, the suggestion on the other side of the pond that it was just as good heated in the microwave provoked a tsunami of censure, as did the promotion of a bag supposedly capable of making the perfect tea in a minute, without much artifice. (a well-known brand spent 50 million dollars developing a rapid infusion system, as if waiting for the water to boil was the work of El Escorial).
The crisis should come as no surprise as there are people who take food and drink very seriously. A study claims that the perfect cookie to dip in tea is oatmeal, because it lasts twenty-nine seconds without melting. British chef Jamie Oliver lost his hair for putting chorizo in paella (he better not set foot in Valencia), and the president of Iceland has declared himself in favor of banning pineapple on pizza. It is already known that nothing is written about tastes.
