Atay

Ingredients

Tea

• 3 tbspChinese gunpowder green tea
• 1 litrewater, kept hot

Also

• a large bunch fresh mint
• sugar, a great deal, about 150 g in total
• sometimes a few pine nuts or peanuts

Equipment

• a small metal teapot, berrad
• small glasses
• a charcoal brazier or a small burner
• a tray

To serve

• three rounds in sequence, over an hour, never hurried

Directions

1. Pour a little hot water over the leaves in the pot, swirl it and pour it straight out. Some makers keep this liquid aside and add it back later, which is a matter of local habit.
2. Fill the pot with hot water and set it on the brazier to boil briefly. Add a modest amount of sugar, since the first round is meant to be bitter.
3. Pour the tea from the pot into a glass and back into the pot, several times. Then pour from a considerable height into the small glasses, in a long thin stream.
4. Serve the first round strong and barely sweet. It is drunk hot and quickly, in a mouthful or two.
5. Return the same leaves to the pot, add fresh hot water and a good handful of mint, and boil it again briefly.
6. Repeat the pouring and foaming. Add fresh water, more mint and yet more sugar to the same leaves. Boil it a little longer than the second, since the leaves give up less.
7. Leave real time between the rounds, ten or fifteen minutes at least. The whole sequence typically takes an hour. Serve the glasses on a tray, and let the maker hand them out.

Technique

• The same leaves make all three rounds, each sweeter and milder than the last.
• The saying runs bitter as death, sweet as life, gentle as love.
• The foam is built by pouring from a height and it is looked for in every glass.

Substitutions

• Any Chinese gunpowder green tea.
• Spearmint, which is the usual variety.

Variations

• With pine nuts added in the third round.
• Made without mint in the first round, which is standard.
• The Moroccan version, poured in a single sweetened round.

History

The three rounds are said to be bitter as death, sweet as life and gentle as love; the ritual can take an hour over a small charcoal brazier.

Frequently asked questions

What is Atay?

Atay is a drink from Mauritania: three ritual rounds of foamy green mint tea, bitter to sweet. The three rounds are said to be bitter as death, sweet as life and gentle as love; the ritual can take an hour over a small charcoal brazier.

How long does Atay take to make?

Atay takes 10 min of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes three rounds for 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Atay?

Yes, within limits. Any Chinese gunpowder green tea. Spearmint, which is the usual variety.

What is the most important thing to get right in Atay?

Leave real time between the rounds, ten or fifteen minutes at least. The whole sequence typically takes an hour. Serve the glasses on a tray, and let the maker hand them out.