Well, this seems to be the time for reminiscence. Not a bad thing in
general (excepting my Aunt Rose on the topic of her operations).

Russian culture is a broad and deep thing. My ancestors, Jews in the
far West of Russia, also drank tea from small glasses while holding
lumps of sugar in their remaining teeth.

And now, I am happy to announce, I have gone full circle (in some
respects - I'm not burying my jewelry in case Cossaks raid the shtetl,
or hurling bombs at the oppressive authorities [the latter in time,
perhaps]): I have just received, compliments of a generous aunt (not
Rose), a samovar. A new one meant for the American electric grid not
the old-world type which use charcoal and give one lead poisoning.
Its urn holds 18 cups (one gallon, one pint) and it's beautiful. All
stainless steel mounted on little stylized feet with porcelain knobs
and a cute little pot on top. But watch out - it's conducive to
pretty heavy doses. The first night I was up at 3:00 a.m. (kind of
like finding a new lover). And best of all, it works nicely for small
amounts too. I suspect that the only drawback is that it probably
won't work for teas which are sensitive to oversteeping, like
Darjeeling. I think it's fine for greens if the little pot on top is
emptied at each serving and then resteeped when needed. The water
temp. is easy to adjust.

Alex: I'm in need of terminology here. What do you call the little
pot? What do you call the concentrate in the pot? And, as long as
I'm asking for free information, do Azeris put cardamom in their tea?
I've tried it with Persian tea (mixture of Caucasian-Persian and
Ceylonese, according to the vendor) and it's great. Of course the
Persian tea is good on its own - very mild, perfect for the samovar.

Alex Chaihorsky > wrote:
> years. The traditional drink in Caucasus is as follows - Georgians - wine,
> wine, wine, Azeris - tea, tea, tea, Armenians - coffee, coffee, coffee.
> Local Russians - all of the above.

What, not vodka? What kind of mutant Russians live there?

> wash it down with tea, never putting sugar into tea. Some small sweet baked
> treats may also be served. My favorite is Azeri baklava which is very
> different from what you an can buy in the States. It is a multilayer (up to
> 30-60 almost paper-thin layers) of very fine dough and a mish of mashed

My theory is the common cup-made-out-of-phyllo-dough-filled with nuts
etc. baklava in the U.S. is a product of laziness and
mass-production. My mother makes baklava as do the Azeris, but with
pistachios not hazelnuts, with all the laborious layers, and she's
from Rumania. Now, another important subject: do Azeris eat halvah?

> hazelnuts, sugar, honey and unbelievable mix of spices (Sweet Jesus, I am
> drooling on my keyboard!).

Beats other common reasons for drooling on one's keyboard.

Best wishes,

Rick.