Sweet Mint Tea
A strong green tea, generously sweetened and perfumed with a large handful of fresh mint, poured from a height to crown it with a light foam. The very gesture of Maghrebi hospitality.
A strong green tea, generously sweetened and perfumed with a large handful of fresh mint, poured from a height to crown it with a light foam. The very gesture of Maghrebi hospitality.
Wherever life carried me — to Sèvres, to Paris, all the way to New York — I always kept the teapot and the bunch of mint nearby. One does not serve tea just any way: you pour it from a height, in a long stream, so that a fine foam forms on the surface of the glass — it is the mark of the attention one pays to the guest. The first glass is bitter like life, they said, the second sweet like love, the third smooth like death. Drink it slowly, and stay: tea is a way of keeping the other close to you.
- •Gunpowder green tea — a spoonful (infused base)
- •Fresh spearmint — a large handful (fragrance)
- •Sugar loaf — generously (sweetness)
- •Boiling water — a teapot (infusion)
Sweet Mint Tea
A strong green tea, generously sweetened and perfumed with a large handful of fresh mint, poured from a height to crown it with a light foam. The very gesture of Maghrebi hospitality.
Why this dish? Mint tea is mentioned among Assia Djebar's own habits, a sensory thread between the Algeria of her childhood, France, and the United States. It is the drink of welcome, connection, and memory, which she said she preserved far from her homeland.
Wherever life carried me — to Sèvres, to Paris, all the way to New York — I always kept the teapot and the bunch of mint nearby. One does not serve tea just any way: you pour it from a height, in a long stream, so that a fine foam forms on the surface of the glass — it is the mark of the attention one pays to the guest. The first glass is bitter like life, they said, the second sweet like love, the third smooth like death. Drink it slowly, and stay: tea is a way of keeping the other close to you.
Ingredients (period version)
- Gunpowder green tea — a spoonful (infused base)
- Fresh spearmint — a large handful (fragrance)
- Sugar loaf — generously (sweetness)
- Boiling water — a teapot (infusion)
Ingredients
- Gunpowder green tea — 1 tbsp (base)
- Fresh nanah mint — 1 large handful (fragrance)
- Sugar — 3 to 5 lumps (sweetness, to taste)
- Water — 50 cl (infusion)
Method
- Rinse the teapot with boiling water, add the tea and a little boiling water; swirl and discard this first water to remove bitterness.
- Pour boiling water over the tea, add sugar, and let steep for 3 to 4 minutes over low heat.
- Add the mint and let steep another 2 minutes.
- Taste, adjust sugar, then serve by pouring from a height to form the characteristic foam in tea glasses.
How it was made : Green tea, imported through trade routes, became established in the Maghreb in the 19th century. The high pour is not for show: it oxygenates the tea and creates the foam, a sign of respect for the guest. Traditionally three successive glasses were served.
The contemporary twist : Iced in summer with a few lemon zest strips, it becomes a refreshing mint tea without losing its ritual gesture.
Assia Djebar · Charactorium