Hello, Steve!
You wrote on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:39:38 GMT:

SW> I had never seen or heard of it before. How could that be?
SW> I've spent no less than 600 hours in Asian grocers and have
SW> never seen it there, either (unless it wasn't in English).
SW> Not much info on the web on a cursory search, but it does
SW> indeed exist and is pretty popular in Southern China
SW> according to:

SW> <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-222.html>

SW> Does anybody here use it and maybe shed some light on it's
SW> use and flavor? At $12 for 400ml, I think I'd like some
SW> first-hand opinion on it first.

I've heard of it as a "cure" for athlete's foot! It is available
in places like food cooperatives and is quite expensive. Try a
google search. I think it comes from some sort of camellia plant
but the tea bush is a relative of the camellia if my memory
serves me right (debatable!)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

"James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
> Hello, Steve!
> You wrote on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:39:38 GMT:
>
> SW> I had never seen or heard of it before. How could that be?
> SW> I've spent no less than 600 hours in Asian grocers and have
> SW> never seen it there, either (unless it wasn't in English).
> SW> Not much info on the web on a cursory search, but it does
> SW> indeed exist and is pretty popular in Southern China
> SW> according to:
>
> SW> <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-222.html>
>
> SW> Does anybody here use it and maybe shed some light on it's
> SW> use and flavor? At $12 for 400ml, I think I'd like some
> SW> first-hand opinion on it first.
>
> I've heard of it as a "cure" for athlete's foot! It is available
> in places like food cooperatives and is quite expensive. Try a
> google search. I think it comes from some sort of camellia plant
> but the tea bush is a relative of the camellia if my memory
> serves me right (debatable!)

Do you mean Tea Tree Oil, which is a cure for athlete's foot and comes
mainly from Australia?

--
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Hello, !
You wrote on 07 Jan 2007 04:51:50 GMT:

n> "James Silverton" <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
??>> Hello, Steve!
??>> You wrote on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:39:38 GMT:
??>>
SW>>> I had never seen or heard of it before. How could that
SW>>> be? I've spent no less than 600 hours in Asian grocers
SW>>> and have never seen it there, either (unless it wasn't in
SW>>> English). Not much info on the web on a cursory search,
SW>>> but it does indeed exist and is pretty popular in
SW>>> Southern China according to:
??>>
SW>>> <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-222.html>
??>>
SW>>> Does anybody here use it and maybe shed some light on
SW>>> it's use and flavor? At $12 for 400ml, I think I'd like
SW>>> some first-hand opinion on it first.
??>>
??>> I've heard of it as a "cure" for athlete's foot! It is
??>> available in places like food cooperatives and is quite
??>> expensive. Try a google search. I think it comes from some
??>> sort of camellia plant but the tea bush is a relative of
??>> the camellia if my memory serves me right (debatable!)

n> Do you mean Tea Tree Oil, which is a cure for athlete's foot
n> and comes mainly from Australia?

I said I'd "heard" of it, not carried out a study;-) I would not
be surprised if it's the same thing and it's medical
effectiveness is debatable.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

>
> n> Do you mean Tea Tree Oil, which is a cure for athlete's foot
> n> and comes mainly from Australia?
>
> I said I'd "heard" of it, not carried out a study;-) I would not be
> surprised if it's the same thing and it's medical effectiveness is
> debatable.
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>
> E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Tea tree and tea - totally separate families (or genus, or whatever level it
is - I don't remember my botany classes real well) of plants.

I looked up tea oil (as in Camellia sinensis or also oleifera, *not* tea
tree, which is Melaleuca), and found a blurb on it, but since it was on
Wikipedia, that doesn't mean it's necessarily correct! What I saw mentioned
good storage qualities, high smoke point, and, that besides being used in
Chinese cooking (it claimed it was the main cooking oil in southern China),
it was used in Japan for both tempura and setting Suno wrestlers' hair.
Tasty...

But this is the first I have heard of it, either. Now I want to go look for
it, just to see... but I doubt I will buy any.

Judy B - Rochester, NY

James Silverton wrote:

> Hello, Steve!
> You wrote on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:39:38 GMT:
>
>> I had never seen or heard of it before. How could that be?
>> I've spent no less than 600 hours in Asian grocers and have
>> never seen it there, either (unless it wasn't in English).
>> Not much info on the web on a cursory search, but it does
>> indeed exist and is pretty popular in Southern China
>> according to:
>
>> <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-222.html>
>
>> Does anybody here use it and maybe shed some light on it's
>> use and flavor? At $12 for 400ml, I think I'd like some
>> first-hand opinion on it first.
>
> I've heard of it as a "cure" for athlete's foot! It is available
> in places like food cooperatives and is quite expensive. Try a
> google search. I think it comes from some sort of camellia plant
> but the tea bush is a relative of the camellia if my memory
> serves me right (debatable!)


Your memory serves you very well, but it's not just a *relative* of the
camellia, it *is* a camellia. To be specific, Tea's genus and species are
Camellia sinensis.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

Ken Blake wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>
>> Hello, Steve!
>> You wrote on Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:39:38 GMT:
>>
>>> I had never seen or heard of it before. How could that be?
>>> I've spent no less than 600 hours in Asian grocers and have
>>> never seen it there, either (unless it wasn't in English).
>>> Not much info on the web on a cursory search, but it does
>>> indeed exist and is pretty popular in Southern China
>>> according to:
>>> <http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/ncnu02/v5-222.html>
>>> Does anybody here use it and maybe shed some light on it's
>>> use and flavor? At $12 for 400ml, I think I'd like some
>>> first-hand opinion on it first.
>> I've heard of it as a "cure" for athlete's foot! It is available
>> in places like food cooperatives and is quite expensive. Try a
>> google search. I think it comes from some sort of camellia plant
>> but the tea bush is a relative of the camellia if my memory
>> serves me right (debatable!)
>
>
> Your memory serves you very well, but it's not just a *relative* of the
> camellia, it *is* a camellia. To be specific, Tea's genus and species are
> Camellia sinensis.
>
Well, I just got Fuchsia Dunlop's new cookbook, and this is in
the list of ingredients. Dunlop says it is from Camellia
oleifera and gives the Chinese (Mandarin?) as cha you (with no
diacritical marks.

--
Jean B.