Gay tea region buzzes
(Baonghean) -"From the past until now, Gay tea has never been unsold. Traders go to the garden to buy it, and when they go to the market, they fight for it all." Mr. Cao Xuan Dao, a long-time tea grower in Hamlet 4 (Cao Son) proudly showed us a bowl of real Gay tea, thick and sweet, showing off.
Indeed, from National Highway No. 7, turning through Linh Son land, bumpy on the newly opened asphalt road to enter Cao Son land (Anh Son district, Nghe An), seeing both sides of the endless hills covered with smooth green tea, trucks, motorbikes following each other heavily laden with tea going in the opposite direction, we can see that Mr. Dao's words are not exaggerated at all.
|
Now, the flavor of Gay tea has become a specialty of Nghe An. But to take root and grow, enjoy the wind and rain, and adapt to the soil of Cao Son to give life a rich sweet and sour taste, the tea trees of this land have also gone through many ups and downs. The elders of the tea land do not remember when Cao Son land became associated with tea, or when tea came to this barren hill land to contribute a bit of hometown love to those who have gone far away and still yearn for it. All we know is that in Cao Son now there are still many tea gardens up to 40-50 years old, and the tea trees have now become the pride of the people of the hill land.
In the past, the four communes of Cao Son, Tao Son, Linh Son, Lang Son were originally new economic zones, people from all over the district came here to settle down on the land that was still wild hills, with almost no houses. Growing rice at that time was a gamble with the heavens. The people of Cao Son also tried many ways to make a living, there were many forests and mountains, but "Eating from the forest makes one's eyes water", that was not a long-term direction. Anh Son land was originally tea land, so the people of Cao Son at that time also sought out other areas, bringing tea seeds to plant on their land. Tea was only grown in one way from the time of our ancestors until now, which was by planting by casting a hole (punching holes to plant seeds). Growing tea trees back then was so much hardship. The hilly land was barren and drought-stricken, with only wild plants growing in abundance. We had to go very far, through fields and hills for half a day to find a place to cut down trees, and use the hoe blade to make sparks in the hill soil to make a furrow for the weak tea seeds to be born.
Making tea is so hard, that's why there's a saying: "Don't marry a Gay man / Have two meals at night, no meals during the day." Because going into the hills before dawn, returning home the lights are already on for a long time, rarely did the ancient Cao Son people have a meal when the sky was still light at home. But it's true that the land does not disappoint the people, the tea trees grow in this land, suitable for the valley, the weather or something that has created a very different, very unique flavor, only Gay tea has. Leaving Cao Son land, the taste of the tea has changed. Like the Xa Doai orange tree, only in that land, the oranges are so sweet and fragrant. The tree seems to have a predestined relationship with people, or is it because of people's love that the tree is fragrant?
|
Up to now, the whole commune has a natural area of 2,611 hectares, of which 228 hectares are used for rice cultivation, there are 387 hectares of tea (mainly green tea), every year, about 20 hectares of tea are newly planted. Comrade Mai Vuong Minh, the Party Secretary of the commune, did not hide his pride: "To tell you the truth, thanks to tea trees, the number of poor households (according to the new standard) in our commune is now only 21.7% (in 2008 alone, it decreased by 4%). Up to 70% of the commune's economy is engaged in agriculture and forestry. The income from green tea bundles (also known as food tea) alone is up to nearly 7 billion/year. Every day, Cao Son people sell 8-10,000 bundles of tea to traders from all over the country at the original price of 3-4,000 VND/bundle, but many times there is nothing to sell". Because of that, tea trees have really "upgraded" on Cao Son land. The whole commune has 1062 households out of 1223 households growing tea. There are 53 households growing over 1 hectare of tea, many households growing over or under 0.8 hectare.
Hill Country Brand
Now Cao Son regularly has 4 large trucks transporting tea to remote areas, there are about 27 households from Dien Chau, Yen Thanh always on duty to "hunt" for tea, tea just picked from the branches, not yet dry of sap, is loaded onto trucks to places craving for Gay tea. Every day there is tea for sale, but every day there is a shortage of tea to sell. That is the joy from the salty sweat of tea makers.
|
As mentioned, Cao Son green tea trees have only been cultivated in one way since ancient times, which is to poke holes and sow seeds. Gay tea is never grown from branches, it seems that the tea tree must experience a true life from the moment it is born as a tiny seed to be able to give such a delicious taste. Each year, the tree only needs to be weeded, trenched, and fertilized twice. When the time comes, people will make a rafter (remove ineffective branches) for the tree. In the third year, from the time of sowing, the tea begins to be harvested regularly. The tea tree is also very capricious, forcing the harvester to only use their hands to break branches, not to use a sickle, as if the tree does not want to be hurt, only the hands of the caretakers can separate the branches and leaves from the mother tea tree. The taste of Gay tea is fragrant and sweet, the leaves of the Gay tea tree are also different. Each leaf is large, shiny, and when folded, it is very brittle and easy to break.
Sweet taste of hometown tea
To have a delicious pot of Gay sweet soup, first of all, people choose thick and lush tea leaves (not too old and not too young). If they are too old, the tea will turn black and not look delicious or fragrant. If the tea is too young, the water will quickly become bland and not rich. The water used to cook the sweet soup must be pure water from the sky. Usually, rainwater or well water will make the tea green, fragrant and sweet. Cooking sweet soup usually uses a clay pot or kettle.
|
Green tea addicts often jokingly say that they drink "five-for" tea, which is a misnomer: give it astringency, give it greenness, give it fragrance, give it heat, give it fun. Good tea is the kind of tea that tastes bitter at first, but after a while it tastes sweet, has a green color that is pleasing to the eye, pleasing to the mouth, and has a fresh, fragrant tea scent that is quite appealing. When drinking, it must be crowded to be fun, drinking and chatting. Green tea addicts don't eat anything early in the morning, they just drink 3-4 bowls and then go to work. People with back pain or tired knees from hard work, they mix molasses with strong green tea and drink it and feel better immediately. If they have more money, they add a spoonful of honey, which is like a "miracle drug".
Leaving Cao Son. Saying goodbye to the land of Gay tea, we still feel heavy with the sentiments of those who are passionate about the tea tree that has become the unique flavor of Nghe An: "We still really want to develop tea further, but the investment capital is too little. Even to build a small dam to keep the tea hills moist, we do not have the funds. The commune is also proposing that the district build a brand for Gay tea, so that we can package, create product brand designs, preserve the flavor, and bring Gay tea to more distant areas."
Looking at the tea hills stretching out in the afternoon sun, I suddenly thought, Cao Son tea trees have given life the bitter taste, the fragrant taste, offering all the essence of a tree's life, contributing to feeding so many people, now the tea wants someone to name it, to shape it to preserve that silent sacrifice.
Tran Hai -With documents by Nguyen Cong Hien
