Page 67 - @ccess 2 Reader´s Book

kettle
First, you fill the samovar—a very large and Glossary on
elaborately decorated electric kettle (which page 92
originally was fueled by wood coals and
kindling) with water and let it boil. Second, you take
a small teapot painted with flowers or roosters or ballet
dancers and put a generous portion of loose black tea
leaves in it and pour hot water from the samovar to fill the
pot to the brim. And then you place the pot on top of the
samovar, on a special little pedestal, just like a
brim (n.):
star on top of a Christmas tree. borde
steam
(n.): vapor
The steam from the samovar escapes from
right underneath the teapot and keeps
the black tea in it warm. Keep in mind
that the tea in the pot is concentrated
and very, very strong. You do not drink
it straight (in Russian, there is a
special term for this concentrate.
It is not tea (“chai” in Russian),
but “zavarka,” which can be
literally translated as “brew”).
Every time you want a fresh
cup of tea, you add a bit of
“zavarka” to your cup, and
then add some hot water
from the samovar. In
the region where
I was raised, a
republic populated
by ethnic Tatars, it is
customary to add milk
to one’s tea (a friend used to joke
that she would marry either a Tatar
or an Englishmen, because both
would know that
tea should be drunk with milk).

66 Reader's Book