Zen and the art of mixing tea with biscotti

Twice each day, as I take my first sip of tea, a low roar fills my ears. It’s like there was a conch placed close to the side of my face and I could hear the sound of the sea through it. That is indeed unusual. As I got thinking about it, I felt what I was experiencing perhaps was this - this cup of tea is meditation, a clarifying potion, a sort of prayer. So then, George Orwell was probably right when he said that a good cup of tea can make you feel wiser, braver and more optimistic. As I gave it more thought, I wondered what would complement an experience as revitalizing as drinking tea. Surely, a biscuit. But not any biscuit. It’d have to be special.  And so I rummaged through recipes and discovered Biscotti.

Now, you don’t need biscotti, scones or cake with your tea. But it helps. I had never tried making biscotti before but last week I had this urge to have something with my tea and so I thought I would give biscotti a try. Now what are biscotti, really?

Biscotti are oblong-shaped biscuits that originated in Italy. They are twice baked, dry, crunchy and can be stored for a long time. The word biscotti means ‘twice baked or cooked’.  Traditional biscotti dough is exclusively composed of flour, sugar, eggs and nuts. There is no butter or fat. I followed a great recipe from Joy of Baking and made mine with chocolate and hazelnuts.

But what inspires me most about Biscotti is that they are a labor of love, like art. They are not your average cookies. Biscotti requires craft, deftness and precision. To begin with, the dough is extremely sticky. Then it needs to be shaped into a log and baked until firm. After a short cooling period, the log is sliced into diagonal slices and baked again to draw out the moisture, thus producing a crisp, dry textured cookie that has a long shelf life. Now you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to what you want to add to these: dried fruits, different varieties of nuts, seeds, spices, etc. Biscotti are also frequently found iced with melted chocolate or other frostings, and topped with nuts and even coloured sprinkles.

And so I made my biscotti and it greatly complemented my cup of tea. Which brings me to what this post is probably really about, the unqualified joys of a really good cup of tea. Tea with biscotti anyone?