Badma Amulakova, Tea Blocks

Abstract

Badma talks about tea blocks and how to make Kalmyk tea. In the past, people kept tea in leather bags in the food area of their yurts. Tea came from China and it looked like pressed blocks with a special stamp on it called ‘tavn khurgn’ (five fingers). In the Soviet period tea blocks came from Georgia. Traditionally, the Kalmyks did not chop tea blocks with an axe but cut with a knife. Cut into small pieces, tea leaves were kept in special leather bags. In the past, Kalmyks mixed their tea with ‘mayn us’ (milk of a one-hump camel) and nutmeg. When tea boiled it was stirred 108 times by lifting a large spoonful of tea and pouring it to the pan. In this way tea becomes oxygenized and does not taste sour. After drinking, tea leaves were collected, dried, and re-used. The poor made tea from the same leaves up to three times.