Kalmyk Tea

The location:

Kalmykia region, Russian Federation

The genre of story:

Dedication

Inspiration

The story:

Kalmyk people live in several countries in the Eastern European and Central Asia region. This tea, with combination of bread, was initially meant to serve as a meal. Two legends have been associated with this drink. 

First one related to semi-legendary Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma. He went to China with the purpose of meditation. One day of his years meditation in China, he fell asleep. He wanted to stay awake as long as possible leading to his decision to cut his eye lids then left it on the ground. His eye lids turned into black leaves which made the base of the tea. Oirats, ancestor of Kalmyk people,  further developed the drink to Kalmyk tea by adding salt and milk. 

The other story is related to a group of shepherds. They had an observation. After sheep ate a certain type of grass, they returned home and became more active.  What they ate was tea! So the shepherds took tea grass added into hot water, nutmeg, butter, salt and milk.