YU C OM NM S CY I O U S F O O D I E
MATCHA MAGIC!
T
hree years ago, I visited the United States for the first time. Being a foodie on Instagram, my intention was to at least try to keep up with all these picture-worthy food trends that were blowing up my newsfeed such as the rolled ice cream, liquid nitrogen ice cream, giant Lad Lard Donuts and of course a cup of matcha tea in New York City. I began my journey and unsurprisingly, as I made my way through the streets of New York, I didn’t have to walk too far before stumbling upon one of a dozen cafés in Lower Manhattan specialising in the matcha Japanese green tea. You know when you find something and suddenly you start to see it everywhere. That’s what happened. Next thing I knew, it was trending on social media and even celebrities were talking about it; it was the current trend and rose in fame as more and more people tried it. My first sip of matcha was rather astonishing. It was an earthy and bitter-
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Yummy. Food. Drink. Life
tasting product. I wasn’t too sure if I liked it or not but once I added a little sweetness in the form of some raw honey, it tasted divine. I was intrigued by the flavours and knew at that very moment I wanted to take some powder back home and experiment with it. Three years later, I am still experimenting with matcha, creating new and different recipes, mostly matcha desserts which is the perfect way to balance sweet and savoury. So what is Matcha? It’s a special type of powdered green tea that is mostly grown in the southern regions of Japan. Matcha comes from the same plant as green tea, but it is farmed differently. About one month before harvest, farmers cover their tea plants to avoid direct sunlight. This boosts the chlorophyll levels in the leaves turning them into that distinct green colour. This delicious vibrant green tea contains three times the amount of antioxidants that are found in regular green tea making it an antioxidant powerhouse.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUPALI DAVE
Nrupali Dave, Assistant Head of Marketing at Tribe Hotels Group, also known as Le Little Gourmand online introduces us to matcha and shows us 3 ways to use it in desserts.
