-By James Mellgren

In his masterly book, “The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea” (The Penguin Press, $25.95), master tea blender Michael Harney says that from the original six teas carried by his family’s business, which were doubtless mostly blends at the time, they now sell over 300. In 1988, after a career in France with the venerable brandy firm Camus Cognac, Harney joined his father’s tea company as buyer and blender. Harney’s book offers a more succinct overview of the history of tea, and instead delves into the intricacies of tasting tea. He divides the six basic categories of tea (white, green, oolong, yellow, black and puerh) into eight chapters: White, Chinese Green Teas, Japanese Green Teas, Oolong Teas, Yellow Teas, Chinese Black Teas, what he dubs British Legacy Black Teas (Darjeeling, Nilgiri, Assam, Ceylon, Kenyan and British Black tea blends), and Puerhs. Harney explains his five-step tasting guide, and for each tea profiled in each chapter, he offers detailed descriptions of the teas and extensive tasting notes.

How would I compare these two books? They are both excellent and should be part of your tea library. Indeed, they could be your tea library, and you would have all the information you would ever need. The best way to compare them then is to say that while “The Story of Tea” brings to life the tea gardens, culture and personalities of the tea-growing world, and most importantly the teas themselves, making the reader not only want to immediately make tea but also to get on a plane bound for China, India or Ceylon, reading “The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea” is like taking a master class from a master buyer/blender. If God is in the details, Harney’s book is a holy manifesto indeed. Like the best wine writers, he has a gifted way of describing the flavors in the cup, such as this comparison of Chinese and Japanese green teas: “Compared with the darker, more mouth-filling Japanese green teas, Chinese greens have the gentler vegetal flavors of steamed leeks, green beans, or bok choy. And where Japanese greens have no sugariness, Chinese greens have charming sweet notes of cooked carrots, jasmine, and sometimes a subtle hint of honey.”

One of the first restaurants I saw that used tea in the kitchen was a place next to the Soho branch of the Guggenheim Museum in the 1980s. Sadly, I can’t remember the name of the place but I remember the passion for tea in the woman who owned it. The shop sold loose teas, tea accoutrement and had a café that featured savory and sweet dishes, the majority of which had tea as an ingredient. The tea was usually a subtle note in the food but the results were delicious. One of my favorite stops in Paris is the Left Bank location of Mariage Frères, a wonderful and evocative tea shop that also features a small restaurant upstairs (in the basement, there is a fascinating tea museum). Several of the dishes on the menu include tea as an ingredient, and they offer tea-pairing suggestions for every dish. It is an eye-opening experience to taste just the right tea that marries perfectly with a particular dish, and often the same tea that is in the dish. It is like drinking the same fine old Burgundy that was used to make the coq au vin. What grows together goes together. The Heiss’ include a quote that is written around the doorframe of a traditional charcoal-firing tea factory in China that is a fitting coda to this piece. It is as follows:

The time is here…
Let everything be happiness
Through the door
Let this fragrance spread
Happiness all over this place.

These two recipes are reprinted here with permission from “The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide.” Copyright © 2007 by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, Calif. They illustrate perfectly how tea can enhance and enliven cooked dishes — sweet or savory.

Spicy Oolong-Smoked Duck Breasts
The authors recommend keeping on the fat during the smoking process but removing it before slicing. They advise to use the crispy fat as garnish for green salads, wild rice salads or Asian noodles.
Serves 4
4 duck breasts
Salt
2 ounces (½ cup) oolong tea leaves (the authors recommend Hairy Crab or Tieguanyin Fujian)
3 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
1 (5-inch) stick Ceylon cinnamon, broken into small pieces
1 teaspoon white peppercorns, crushed
6 whole star anise
¼ cup light-brown sugar

Sprinkle the duck breasts lightly with salt. In a small bowl, combine the tea leaves, Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon, white peppercorns, star anise and brown sugar.

Line a wok or Dutch oven with tinfoil, and spread the tea and spice mixture on the foil. Fit the pan with a round rack that will elevate the duck breasts over the tea and spice mixture.

Place the breasts on the rack, fat side up, and cover the pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and, after two or three minutes, quickly lift the lid. The tea and spice mixture should be starting to smoke; if not, turn the heat up a little bit and check again in one or two minutes. Regulate the heat so that smoking occurs, but don’t let the tea and spice mixture burn.

Smoke the duck breasts for 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat. (Thick duck breasts, which are similar in size to large bone-in chicken thighs, take twice as long to smoke as thin breasts, which are the size of small boneless chicken breasts.) Fully cooked duck breasts should be ruddy golden-brown in color, glistening on the outside and pinkish in color inside when fully cooked. Use an instant-read cooking thermometer to check the progress of the duck breasts; fully cooked duck breasts should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) after resting for four to five minutes.

After the duck breasts have rested, cut them into thin slices, and serve immediately.

Green Tea Pot de Crème
Makes 6
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1½ teaspoons matcha powder
6 egg yolks, beaten

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (163 degrees Celsius). Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat. Scald the cream until bubbles form around the edges and it is heated through, about five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt and matcha powder until well blended. Add this to the egg yolks and mix well. Add ¼ cup of the hot cream to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Add another ¼ cup of the cream and whisk again. Carefully pour this mixture and the remaining 1½ cups hot cream into a double boiler or saucepan over medium heat and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, at about 170 degrees Fahrenheit (77 degrees Celsius). Be careful not to let the custard boil or it will curdle. Remove the custard from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup.

Place six ramekins (or teacups or rice bowls) in an ovenproof baking dish and fill the ramekins three-quarters full with the custard mixture. Carefully pour the boiled water around the ramekins in the baking dish until the water rises three-quarters of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the custards for 25 to 30 minutes, until the edges of the custards are set and the tip of a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean.

Place the custards on a cooling rack and loosely cover them with aluminum foil. Let them cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate for four to six hours. Remove 30 minutes before serving.