PEANUT SATAY and GREEN TEA: CAN THEY PAIR WELL?

Here's the latest post from my Facebook page, with the conversation I had with Marzi after the post:

Picture of tea service grabbed from Bangkok At Beltline webpage.

Interesting question that came to mind when Pairteas friend Marzi Pecen sent me images from a Thai Afternoon Tea event at "Bangkok At Beltline" near her home in Texas. She mentioned that green teas were paired with the savory dishes, while a chrysanthemum tea was paired with the sweet ones. 

Noticed that the first savory dish on the menu consisted of mini chicken satay sandwiches. Which brought the question of peanuts and green tea to mind. The answer, I think, is yes, depending on what you want to experience in the tea and the food:
• Green tea, as we have noted before, hits the cool/cold receptors, to give a fresh, "green" herbaceous flavor.
• By contrast, peanuts, thanks to the cooking process, mainly hit the hot receptors. Add the chilies in the satay sauce and the receptors will be going full blast...
• ...except that the oils in the satay sauce will dampen the effect of the chilies!
• At the same time, the salt and the savory in the chicken/satay combo will turn off the receptors for bitterness, with a net effect that the tea will taste sweet.
• (And I should mention that some people have found compounds in roasted peanuts that could be qualified as "green' and vegetal. Don't know whether this holds true in a satay sauce.)
=> What's the result? Here's my guess: the first bites of the mini chicken satay sandwich won't be too spicy, and you will be able to taste the tea, but it will be sweeter than expected and somewhat less vegetal—a nice "palate cleanser" that cuts down on the heat. As you progress through the sandwich, however, the hot receptors will dominate (they're slow on - slow off), and the flavor of the tea will disappear. Note that the sandwiches were tiny, though, so you may not have gotten to the point of hot receptor domination...

So I asked my friend: What did you experience, Marzi? 

Here's what she said:

Marzi Pecen Yes! The chicken satay sandwich was sweet & savory in the first bite. The heat did increase and linger. This was true with the mini-veggie samosa as well. Between conversation and bites of savories, the Chinese green tea (toasty, nutty, no astringency) was a nice palate cleanser and enjoyable on its own.
I was happy to see that they paired different teas with each course and noticed that other tables were excited to try something new. The service was attentive and the food inventive yet approachable.

PairTeas Ah a Chinese green tea, so more toasty nutty "brown" flavors. Did you drink the tea first, then eat the food, or vice versa?

Marzi Pecen We started with the tea. But I also alternated with sips of water.

PairTeas Was the tea greener tasting before you ate the savories?

Marzi Pecen I wasn't thinking specifically of that, but I noted it seemed toastier after the savories. Especially the nicely browned croissant.

PairTeas Isn't fascinating how you can change the flavor profile of a tea with pairing? The Chinese green teas are pan-fired so they have some of the toasty "brown" flavors, which can be brought out by pairing with the "brown" savories; a gyokuro would never work.

Marzi Pecen One think I really appreciated was getting to taste Thai tea unsweetened and hot. Delicious. It was paired with a small very rich & dark chocolate tart whose complexity was emphasized paired with the tea. The beautiful green tea and Thai tea macarons would be over powered by the tea so, after a bit of water, I savored those. They were sublime. The buttercream between the meringues were perfect and true tea flavors.

Here's the treat tower — how delicious it looks!

Menu and Treat Tower Photos by Marzi.