Anyone for Tea? Onion Tea?

My mother-in-law, the Queen of Tea, would not be impressed

Anyone tried Onion Tea?

I never heard of it until recently. I accidentally came across an article and recipe for it while browsing for ways to boost immunity. The article touts the health benefits of Onion Tea so I decided to try it.

Growing up in Texas in the 70’s and 80’s I drank gallons of tea, mostly iced tea, with lots of added sugar. Sweet Iced Tea was, and still is quite popular, in Texas and all over the South. The non-alcoholic drink of choice. Cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. If I am out and about in town and find myself needing a drink and a pick-me-up, I know I can find the best Sweet Tea in Texas at local BBQ places and Fried Chicken restaurants, even at the drive-thru window.

My South African husband was not a tea drinker. When in Texas we frequented BBQ places and while he would have a Coke, I always had Sweet Tea.

If you are not from Texas, let me explain — in BBQ places, drinks are self-serve for the most part. You will see two very large tea dispensers, one labeled “Sweet Tea” and the other “Unsweet Tea”. My husband thought that was so funny. He would say “Tea is unsweet, so you can’t have “Sweet” and “Unsweet”, you cannot put sugar in and then suck it back out to make it “Unsweet”, it comes that way.

He said the labels on the dispensers should simply read “Tea” and “Sweet Tea”. This would actually be correct.

In addition to iced tea, my mother also drank hot tea in the mornings or evenings. By the time I was in high school I had started drinking hot tea, mostly English Breakfast Tea or Earl Grey, with sugar of course, like my mother. I had not yet acquired a taste for coffee, which in later years became my hot beverage of choice.

Later years my mother switched from drinking black teas to green tea, chai tea, rooibos tea, turmeric tea and various other herbal varieties. Rather than boiling water in a kettle these days, she now makes tea in a mug or Mason Jar in the microwave. I must admit, I have also become guilty of using that method. A proper tea drinking connoisseur, like the South African woman who would later become my mother-in-law, would cringe at the thought.

My Onion Tea experiment would not impress her even if it is good for the immune system. She drank Five Roses Tea (black tea) with a splash of milk. Properly made in a tea pot which she served on a tea tray with a tiny pitcher of milk, sugar bowl, and a plate of biscuits (cookies). Tea cups only, no mugs allowed. Tea in a mug would be uncultured. Being the good hostess, when guests arrived, she always offered the perfect cup of tea. In my book, she was the Queen of Tea. Afterall, my Texas upbringing lacked in this regard.

She drank tea every day at 11 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. My husband always told me his mother drank 3 roses in the morning and 2 roses in the afternoon.

Tea drinking habits in South Africa stem from its long history with Great Britain. South Africa declared independence from the Commonwealth in 1961 but some say you can still smell the Queen’s perfume there. This is certainly true in regards to tea drinking. However, in the last few years, I have seen canned herbal teas on the grocery store shelves.

In 1949 In Search of South Africa by H.V. Morton was published. He wrote:

“White South Africa would apparently stop if it did not drink tea in the morning. Nowhere is it easier to contract the habit of elevenses than in the tea garden beneath the trees, with the doves cooing, the water prickling on the green leaves, and the great wall of Table Mountain rising in the heat.”

My in-laws moved from Pretoria to Cape Town during the last few years of their lives. I did not get to visit them in Cape Town but I hope they got to drink their tea in a garden with a view of Table Mountain at the assisted living center where they stayed.

Now that I have digressed from the subject of my Onion Tea experiment, I shall return to it. I was interested in the health benefits but also curious as to what it would taste like.

Original Recipe Ingredients:

1 onion (cut into small pieces)

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp honey

1 bay leaf

3 cloves

2 cups water

I didn’t have a bay leaf or fresh garlic. I was not going to buy bay leaves or fresh garlic for an experimental cup of tea. I’m one of those cooks who substitutes ingredients if I don’t have the called for one on hand. 98% of the time I come up with a tasty adaptation of a dish.

My Ingredients for Onion Tea:

1 Yellow Onion sliced

1 Orange, sliced

1 teaspoon full of minced Garlic in oil (out of jar)

3 Cloves

3 pinches (approximately) powdered Tumeric

2 cups (I used a little more than 2 cups so that it would cover ingredients in the pot).

Honey to taste after the tea is poured into my mug.

Preparation:

Add the minced garlic, cloves, and turmeric to a medium size pot.

Add the water and bring to a boil.

Add the sliced onion and orange. Boil on medium to high heat long enough for the onions to soften about half way, checking to see when the water changes color to a light brown.

Mine was more yellow due to adding turmeric.

Let stand for a few minutes so that it is cool enough to handle while pouring through a sieve.

Add honey to your own taste.

My taste said it was an interesting and acceptable concoction, perhaps it is more of an onion broth. I’m sure it would be good on a cold winter night. I think the onions could be saved in the refrigerator for use as a tasty addition in a stir-fry. Next time I want to try it using purple onions.

I drank the two cups the recipe made. If you like “Sweet Tea”, you must get that sweet thought out of your mind, Onion Tea won’t satisfy you in the same way. My mother would not touch it even though I told her of the health benefits. She doesn’t really like onions anyway.

And my mother-in-law, the Queen of Tea, she is in heaven, probably asking herself

“What kind of cook did my son marry? The woman cannot even make a proper cup of tea!”