Orenburg state university

Maybe some tea?

On the eve of the National Unity Day in Orenburg State University people of different nationalities told about the traditions of hospitality and tea-drinking of their nation and treated the audience with sweets of their cuisine.

The university students and pupils of lyceum № 8, also special guests, which included foreign teachers of the OSU, tasted drink and dishes of ethnic cuisine.

The OSU Rector Vladimir Kovalevskiy spoke several "tea" stories of life. He remembered as all students of dormitory came for tea to the fellow student from Azerbaijan who perfectly made this drink. And nobody has been able to repeat this recipe because the most difficult moment was to define "proper start of water boiling" in tea-kettle…

Representative of Orenburg regional public organization "Russian national centre", associate professor of Culture studies Department in OSU Tatiana Skopintseva told about tea-drinking culture in Russia.

— The Russians started taking tea only in the XVIII century, — Tatiana Skopintseva commented her presentation. — Peasants couldn’t brew this drink so that’s why they added bay leaf and pepper to increase taste and gave it to their master. He savoured it and noticed meaningly: "I think something is missing… Maybe a little salt?"