I have speculated in this very column whether it is correlated with a liking for cats or dogs. I have asked what Chinese teas/infusions I would recommend for a coffee lover to try; wheat tea (大麦茶) or burdock-root (牛蒡茶) tea. I have also asked aloud what makes me (and most other people) enjoy one so passionately more than the other. Well, this month, we have (perhaps) learnt a bit more. A study by Northwestern University, Illinois, USA, has identified specific DNA differences correlating with humans drinking coffee or tea. Apocalypse Tea; Should I...

In a previous entry for Strainer, we explored the use of green tea as an additive in various processed goods; from skin creams to air fresheners to slimming pills to ice cream. We explored how seldom it is the flavour of the green tea that qualifies it as capable of “adding value”, which, by the way, usually means added shareholder wealth, not added customer pleasure. We explored how green tea carries connotations of “healthfulness” to most people in most countries, as well as ambitious health claims for anyone who cares to...

I couldn’t quite believe my eyes. There they both were. And it was my wife who’d put them there. Strewth. It wasn’t even that one of these dishes was left-overs from the previous day; no, she had consciously cooked both of them, set them there for the family to actually eat. Okay, it was a long time ago that she’d delivered the warning. Maybe she’s forgotten it by now. Or maybe I’m the one who misremembered. Anyway, here goes. Fish is not to be paired with sweet potato. Harmless individually, these two...

It’s teenagers who enjoy it the most. It’s there in so many of the snacks they eat. It is a horrifying rottenness. They love it. They are wrong to love it. Of course, many of these snacks of rottenness contain chilli; that fresh adventure for the young person. With alcohol, even coffee, still far on the horizon, the enjoyment of chilli carries an illicit charge and bragging rights. And, of course, these snacks are heavily freighted with umami, the protein decoy. While adults somehow remain wary of this big-FMCG alchemy, the...