Foods, their selection and preparation

3. Pour fresh boiling water over the tea or bag and cover it. Boiling water is the first requirement for good tea. It is even more im¬ portant than the blend of tea. 4. Let the tea steep from three to six minutes. Then serve at once, plain or with sugar, and either lemon or milk. If loose tea and boiling water are used the leaves will settle to the bottom and it may not be necessary to strain the tea. Some pots have a straining device. Iced Tea. There are special blends of tea for serving iced. Tea to be served iced should be made with as much care as that to be served hot. Just as with iced coffee, to allow for dilution by the ice, tea should be made at least half again as strong as for serv¬ ing hot. Iced tea is usually best when made by pouring freshly made hot tea over ice in the glass, since the infusion loses flavor on stand¬ ing. If made in advance and allowed to cool and be chilled before icing, which is more economical of ice, it should be covered closely during cooling to prevent loss of flavor. When the infusion for iced tea contains too much tannin, there may be a precipita¬ tion of the tannin when it is poured over the ice, resulting in an unattractive cloudy tea. A way of preparing iced tea which eliminates this possibility is the cold-water method. The tea is made with double the usual amount of tea, and cold water. The water remains on the tea overnight, or from 12 to 18 hours, and it should be covered tightly and kept in the refrigerator. The tea is strained from the leaves for serving and poured over ice in glasses. Tea made in this way seldom carries any bitterness, since tannin is not as soluble in cold water as the stimulating and aromatic principles. Theine and the flavoring substances are more soluble in hot water than cold, but the difference in the time that the water is in contact with the tea also is a factor. Iced tea is usually served with lemon, and sugar if desired. When lemon is added the color fades, since a tannin solution loses color in the presence of an acid. COCOA AND CHOCOLATE Cocoa and chocolate are prepared from the seed of an evergreen tree, Theobroma cacao. When translated, Theobroma be¬ comes "food for the gods,” an indication of the esteem in which these products were held in early days. The cacao tree is native to Mexico, but it grows also in South America and the West Indies. Cocoa and chocolate differ from each other in that some of the fat is extracted from the chocolate in the man¬ ufacture of cocoa. Both may be used in the preparation of beverages, though cocoa is probably more frequently used for that purpose. When Cortez and the Spaniards entered the vast empire of Montezuma they found that the use of chocolate was common. When Cortez sent to Charles V the principal prod¬ ucts of the New World, he included choco¬ late. The conquerors were not slow to ap¬ preciate its excellent qualities. For some time, however, Spain depended upon the colonies for the manufactured product; but [343] when the art of manufacturing it was discov¬ ered, the raw material also was imported.