Tuesday, November 15, 2011

World’s most expensive tea

Pasta with peas and peppers in mustard sauce
Food Diary (November 14, 2011)
Breakfast: Rolled oats with banana, coconut, sunflower seeds and flax seeds
Lunch: Pasta with peas and peppers in mustard sauce
Dinner: sandwich

It is quite interesting to see how the selection of food items available at supermarkets is changing. Today I was really really surprised to see pork fat making an appearance, and at a reasonable price too. It was cheaper than coconut oil and butter. I didn’t buy it but I don’t rule out the possibility in future. For those who are not familiar with the local language, I see the possibility of mistaking it for butter and probably initially concluding that butter here tastes quite different. Some years ago I made the mistake with milk and filmjölk, a type of cultured milk. In those days I hated cultured milk. Having my first breakfast in Sweden with nice cereal and filmjölk wasn’t the start I was looking for.

Finding peanut butter was almost a mission impossible some years ago. I recall American students complaining about this. Today you can find many different brands. I have yet to see pumpkin puree but give it a few years and I am sure it will make an appearance.

Today's Favourite Photo
Classic Pumpkin Pie

Today’s Favourite Blog
Source: SBS
Kopi Luwak, the world's most expensive coffee, is made using beans that have been eaten and excreted by the Indonesian civet cat. And now thanks to panda poo being used as fertiliser, we may see the worlds most expensive tea being grown. It seems the sophisticated human palate appreciates food connected with animal by-product!

An Yashi, a college lecturer at the Sinchuan University, believes the tea fertilized with panda droppings could prevent cancer and fetch a price of up to £50,000 per kilo ($36,000 per pound).

Pandas have a very poor digestive system and only absorb about 30 percent of everything they eat. As such their poo is treasure, rich in fibres and nutrients. Maybe the smart scientists will find more creative uses of this nutrient rich by-product. Some humans could do with more fibre and nutrients. 

An Yanshi describes the teas as having “a mature, nutty taste and a very distinctive aroma while it's brewing."
  
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18 comments:

  1. Ughs about the tea part, I have heard of Kopi Luwak, and now panda poo too? :p
    Thank goodness I am not a fan of coffee, hehehe, no offense to coffee lovers (including my own mum!)

    That pumpkin pie looks so pretty and dainty sitting there!!

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  2. I love my coffee but draw the line at poo brew. And since pandas are slowly disappearing .... sorry, can't see it going too far and I get the super expensive part.
    LOL .. your first part about not knowing the local lingo reminds me of the story of an immigrant couple who was so excited about having their first American meal of fried chicken and learnt (the hard way) their very first American word ... Crisco!

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  3. Oh my heavens, for some reason my mind read your first paragraph as saying there was pork fat in the cultured milk! *laughs*

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  4. oh my goodness, i just lost my appetite.... panda dropping for tea?! gasp...

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  5. Hmm now panda coffee? I can only imagine how expensive that would be! I've heard unicorn coffee is the best though ;)

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  6. Christy: you should try Kopi Luwak, maybe you will love it!

    ping: maybe they will force feed the pandas to get more poo:) That poor couple learning Crisco first, but maybe it is good as it should have only gotten better afterwards, maybe!

    Hannah: pork fat in cultured milk – you are being really creative!

    Junia: have some Kopu Luwak coffee:)

    Lorraine: I have never heard of unicorn coffee, I will find out more

    Sonia: me too, I am really curious

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  7. that picture of the pumpkin pie is absolutely gorgeous! as for panda poo tea! I think I'll stick to coffee!
    mary x

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  8. That is some expensive tea!

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  9. The colourful pasta looks very appetizing. £50,000 per kilo?! That's expensive!

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  10. I love pork fat! But the best one is home-made. Just the smell during the process is awful. I promise myself to make it one day and it's been years I haven't tried yet. I bet about 70 years ago you would see only pork fat, almost no oil!
    I have already heard about the most expensive coffee, but the panda poo fertiliser is all new. It sounds quite natural to use a good quality fertiliser. I know some people who say cigarette ashes are an excellent fertiliser (at least fir home decorative plants).

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  11. I'm pretty sure I prefer my tea undigested!!! Love your oat squares...I could eat a whole batch myself :)

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  12. Mary: the tea does not seem too attractive

    Yummychunklet: very expensive indeed

    Angie: thank you

    Sissi: if you make it you can use it in your cheesecake:) About cigarette ashes, I know that smokers use pot plants because it is more convenient. I wonder if the smokers say ashes are good for plants so that they are allowed to continue using pot plants as ash trays!

    Lizzy: same!

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  13. hi three cookies, wow i always knew pandas as a rare species and to collect their poos as organic fertilizer for tea- must be short on supply, thus also a contributing factor to the increase in price.
    I also wonder if that is scientifically proven huh.
    Even rarer still would be the Kopi Luwak- wonder how much coffee can they gather from the excretions of the civet cat.. LOL, yuks!
    It will be even more expensive, if the civet cats are man eaters- just wondered, must google on this cat LOL
    The pasta and the pumpkin pie sure looks great and pleasing to the eyes and palate.

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  14. I'm really shocked to hear about panda's poos in tea... but I guess anything can be possible in this world. :-O I'm very interested in Kopi Luwak now. I love to taste this coffee!

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  15. Mmmm pork fat. Melt it with some fried onion, apple and bacon bits then let it set again and spread on freshly baked bread. Yum! Although not very wholesome...
    I only found pumpkin pure at a posh deli here in Sydney. It tasted a lot different to the pumpkins I'm used to. I'll stick to the fresh ones.

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  16. I enjoy too watching the turnover of new products appearing on the shelves. Not sure I would enjoy your cereal and filmjölk either, eith a cup of expensive poop tea.

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  17. Whats with this poo drinks, I think its just for marketing purposes would you really distinguish the taste of those expensive one to a good quality tea or coffee

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