This is a scene from Yes Minister that I have always loved. The second bit, not the first bit.
If you didn’t get around to watching it, there’s a suggestion that legislation is to be enacted in the European Parliament to cause the British sausage to cease being referred to as a ‘sausage’, but instead being called a “emulsified, high fat offal tube”.
It does make me think about the nomenclature of tea.
- If you have a cup of a fine Arya Ruby Darjeeling SFTGFOP, it’s “tea”.
- If you enjoy a lovely Ali Shan Oolong from your favourite tea garden, it’s “tea”.
- What about a simple Grade 1 Gunpowder Green, brewed GongFu style in a Yixing pot? “Tea”.
And how about the lowest possible grade black, picked by machines, stuffed into paper bags in eastern Europe or a third world country with no minimum wage and poor food hygiene standards, boxed, plastic wrapped and deposited on supermarket shelves with no consideration except delivering it a few cents/pence/pesos cheaper?
When it’s talked about, it’s still “tea”.
In fact,the latter is over 90% of tea.
So, do we have the nomenclature wrong? Should we rename bad tea as something else. Or good tea as something else?
I’m working on an idea inspired by this.
My next blog will tell you all about it.
But for now: What do you think? What can we do?
I didn’t know about this European thing but here is something much better for your quest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_designation_of_origin
It makes things more complex but it can help as it is stricter as the “made in”.
I would totally eat something called an offal tube.