The smaller glasses shown here are what we used when we were served mint tea during our years in Morocco. The larger glasses and the pitcher came as part of this set, I suppose the Moroccan women used all these pieces, I just don't recall ever seeing anything used, except the small glasses. The small tea glasses are about 3.5 inches tall. I did a google search for Moroccan tea glasses and found quite a few for sale. They were colors like red, blue, or yellow had silver paint or had what was referred to as gold gilt paint. Our glasses as you can see are all gold colored, I did not find any exactly like these in my short search. I rarely wash these, we do not use them, they are kept stored as you see them, on a shelf of my hutch, subjected to air and dust. They are nearly as shiny and pretty as the day we purchased them in Morocco, sometime in 1971-72.
The tea is brewed in a tea pot, like this one. I'm gonna confess right up front, that I used to keep this one on the gas stove, as a decoration. At some point, the other side of the pot suffered a serious case of "melt down", almost melted the entire side of it off. At that point, I put the tea pot in the same hutch, the melted side not visible, and have continued to enjoy seeing it there. I believe this would be considered an every day pot used by many families of moderate financial means. A search on the net will produce information on some really beautiful fancy pots used for tea, Man bought this one for me for Christmas while we lived there.
So, back to the brewing of tea. Quite the ritual. Fresh mint leaves and some tea leaves and a LOT of sugar are put in the bottom of the pot, hot water poured on top. After a few minutes of steeping, your hostess will pour some of the tea into a glass, and immediately she will pour it from the glass back into the pot. This is repeated until she feels the tea is perfect. Only then will she serve each of her guests a glass of hot sweet mint tea.
The only place Man and I have found mint tea like what we grew to love in our time in Morocco was at Disney Land Florida, the Restaurant Marrakesh. When I pulled up the web site, I was delighted to see the waiter pouring mint tea!
Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence
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4 comments:
Oh how wonderful to have the tea set and great memories from Morocco. My parents took my brother and I to Morocco for a couple of days as a side tour when we were in Spain. All I remember is the marketplace in Tangier, the beautiful leather goods, the exotic smells, and a snake charmer. Our tour guide was very odd and kept telling us not to look anyone in the eye. How wonderful that you and Man got to live there. I hope to return some day. Cheers! Jennifer
Your photo of the glasses is lovely. I think the story is interesting. Had no idea you lived in Morocco, was Man in the service, or you?
Barbara, Man was in the Navy, I was able to live there for 16 months, he a few months longer.
Jennifer, Never made Tangier, did make Fez. The medina there was huge, fascinating, we were warned it would not be wise to wander in without a guide, as it would be so easy to get lost.
Morocco was certainly a life time of experiences, sounds, lights, food, and so much more, packed into such a short time, it did leave Man and I with different views and vivid memories.
Beautiful pieces, Carol. I have tea-set Envy! lol What great keepsakes from your time in Morocco. Thanks for posting your pictures.
PS I just planted a spearmint plant, might have to try brewing up some mint tea...
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