Page 68 - @ccess 2 Reader´s Book

My grandmother and I spent endless evenings at the
table, with the samovar as a centerpiece, drinking one
cup of tea after another, eating sweets and pies, and, of
course, talking, talking and talking.

We were not concerned about caffeine, drinking liters
of strong black tea right before going to bed (I still have
not internalized the fact that tea can keep you awake and
always drink strong tea before bed, sleeping soundly
every night), neither were we worried about extra
calories (I was too young to worry about my figure, my
granny too old to bother).

In Russia, drinking tea involves more than just consuming
caffeinated liquid. It is a must to serve this drink with
accompanying snacks, be that homemade jam,
honey, or one of many Russian sweets: ginger cookies,
caramels or chocolates, thin crunchy waffles, tiny hard
bread rings peppered with poppy seeds, chocolates called
“ptichye moloko” (literally “the bird’s milk,” these chocolates’
filling is reminiscent of a mixture of jelly and marshmallows),
or a piece of layered honey cake, “medovik.”

No one in
Russia serves
just plain tea. I
came to regret
this custom a
bit when I grew
up and started
worrying about
extra calories.
My work as a
journalist sent
me traveling

Reader's Book 67