Lydia Gautier, a Célébri-thé

2/27/18

Origin, color, preparation... tea holds no secrets for Lydia Gautier. As a true expert, she has brought the teapot back to our tables with subtle food and tea pairings. By Manon Parent - © Lydia Gautier Facebook

Now aconsultant (Fauchon, Comptoir Richard, Hôtel de Crillon...), trainer and author, Lydia Gautier is a passionate tea expert. This love of camellia sinensis was born of her oenology studies at INA Paris Grignon (Institut National Agronomique).

Red, green, blue or white, tea has a thousand and one flavors_© Igor Miske

After working for Peruvian and French wine producers, she turned to importing tea to France. A not-so-distant transition, since these beverages follow the same tasting process: use of the 5 senses, vintages, aging by oxidation...

Through her work, Lydia Gautier helps us to understand why, in recent years, tea has become so popular. She opens the doors on this international beverage and the rituals that accompany it: co-founding the Ecole du Thé (1995), to train the curious and neophytes alike in its art (tasting, ideal temperature, touch, blends), publishing three books dispensing all her little expert secrets, a series entitled L'art du thé au Japon (The Art of Tea in Japan) broadcast on France Culture in 2001 ... Inaddition to deciphering the colors, origins and manufacture of tea, Lydia Gautier has also devised recipes accompanied by food and tea pairings, in the company of former chef and successful photographer Jean-François Mallet (author of the Simplissimeseries of books , Hachette Cuisine), for his book Thés & Mets Subtiles Alliances (Edition Aubanel, 2008 ).

By bringing the teapot to our gourmet tables, she perpetuates the tea-time tradition dear to the English, who were among the first to marry "dishes from their kitchen with Asian teas".

Sources: Le Thé arômes et saveurs du monde, (Edition Aubanel, 2005)-€38.00; Thés & Mets Subtiles Alliances (Edition Aubanel, 2008)-€34.00; 1001 secrets sur le thé, (Prat éditions, 2016)-€14.90