While I gather information on the domestication of tea, and setting aside the lovely myths about leaves floating mysteriously into bowls of hot water, one intriguing possibility is that the leaves of Camelia sinensis were originally eaten as a kind of vegetable. Here is an account from Food in China, by Frederick J. Simoons.
The processing of tea leaves into a pickled tea or vegetable preserve called leppett or letpet, is found in Burma, especially in the Shan States, and in certain hill areas between Burma and Assam. The tea leaves in question come from plantings of Assam tea. C. sinensis, var. assamica. Early in this century such pickled tea, transported in large amounts by coolies and pack animals, was the most valuable product traded from the Shan hill country to lowland Burma. The product was made by softening tea leaves through steaming or boiling; rolling them and allowing them to cool; compressing them into pits, or into bamboo tubes that are drained and stoppered; and, finally, burying and aging them. The Burmese regard the end product as a delicacy and traditional food essential for ceremonial needs (they commonly prepare it with sesame, oil, and garlic, in which form it has a taste reminiscent of olives). Small gifts of leppett would accompany Burmese invitations to feasts and ceremonies, being a polite suggestion that the invitee make a small monetary contribution for the feast. In the last century, leppett tea was sold not just in Burma and parts of India, but in many areas of China’s southwest. We have not determined whether the Shan living in China made the product, but they did obtain pickled lea in trade from the Palaung, a Mon-Khmer people. Burmese Shans, Burmese, and Chinese and Indians living in Burma are also buyers of Palaung pickled tea. A preserved tea used by the Lao of northern Thailand, called mieng or miang, is made in a similar way, but for chewing. Chewing of mieng is widespread among the Lao and almost essential for men involved in heavy labor such as rowing or poling.
An article in the New York Times of 22 March 1896 gives further details, as does the Story of Tea, by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss.
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Fascinating stuff, Jeremy!
…a camelia sinensis addict
Interesting this little snippet from the article in The Times: “tea bought at the gardens at from 15 to 25 rupees for 360 pounds is sold in Mandalay at from 60 to 140 rupees.” My mother-in-law in Kenya pays tea pickers about KSh 5 per kg and sells to the factory at about KSh 20 per kg. Not a dissimilar markup.
Intriguing stuff, refreshing to read a blog not about guns, God or Barack. Just like a cup of Lapsong Souchong …