FOOD Quest for the Perfect Bubble

Tea Navya Verma

From Dalgona coffee to meatless meats, the ‘trendy’ food industry has undoubtedly come a long way in establishing its permanence in our lives through social media. Even the most inactive social media members would be lying if they said they didn’t attempt the pancake cereal or avocado toast in 2020, which has now inadvertently hustled itself into the daily routines of some of us. The idea of popular culture with respect to gastronomy has lately only brought one item to my mind that everyone seems to have tried but me - Bubble Tea, aka boba. As jarring as it has been for me to live a uni student life without having tried Bubble tea, the more surprising news was the uncountable amount of Bubble tea stores in York alone.

The curiosity (and willingness to squander money) in me urged me to be immersed in boba deliciousness as I decided to swap my weekly coffee expenditure for bubble tea for 5 days of the week, as I took on the quest to find the best boba in town.

Day 1: On the first day, I tried to go with the most visited choice and made my way to Chatime in the city centre. On my first visit to an exclusive bubble tea outlet, I was already overwhelmed by the queue of bubble tea drinkers, which was shortly overpowered by the extravagant menu I was given to ogle at. Despite the endless choices, I decided to play it safe with the ‘brown sugar pearls milk tea’. I was super happy with the freshness of the beverage, the kind of experience I only have with a red bull. Overall, my experience was fruitful in shaking things up.

Day 2: On the second day, I decided to try out another bubble tea hotspot, not too far away from Chatime and stopped at T4. The place’s name instantly intrigued me and drew my attention to their website, which explained their concept: ‘A cup of TEA FOR you’, which already made me keen on them. The store was comparatively more spacious, and the interior minimalistic but chic. Feeling more confident from yesterday’s experience, I felt brave enough to order the Oreo potted milk tea because, to be fair, everything Oreo is outright delicious, which in this experience remained true to each sip.

Day 3: On the third day, I decided to take bubble tea to accompany my evening meal at Zaap, an excellent Thai restaurant, and my favourite. Despite not being an exclusive bubble tea store, the choices at Zaap were numerous, with soda flavours as well. They also had the unique option of bubble teas with booze, and I ordered the Salted Caramel bubble, which had vodka, caramel, Kahlua and milk with pearls. Despite my opinion that vodka would irritate the flavours, the taste was great; however, I still prefer the alcohol-free boba.

Day 4: On the fourth day, I decided to visit the closest place to me called Sucre, which serves not only bubble tea but also quaint little desserts. The ambience was cosy, and I was grateful for the less crowd after the past three days. To switch up the texture of the drink a little, I ordered a fruit tea instead of a milk base this time. I went for the lychee and lemon tea which had a sweet smell, and a crisp aftertaste.

Making My Nan’s Christmas Pudding Katie Preston

Every year on Christmas day, I have always looked forward to eating a family favourite dessert: six cup pudding.

Passed down from my Great Nan from wartime, six cup pudding is quite similar to the traditional christmas pudding, however everyone in my family, including me, insists that it is NOT christmas pudding.

As of right this second, I am yet to attempt to make my Great Nan’s heralded six cup pudding. After receiving a recipe and ingredients list from my Grandma, as well as a “good luck”, I’m now doubting myself as to whether I have been eating a christmas pudding my entire life without realising.

With advice including “make breadcrumbs with stale bread” and “buy suet in a packet”, whatever suet is, I feel like I’m about to embark on the showstopper section of Bake Off.

For those interested, here is the recipe, courtesy of my Great Nan:

1 cup self raising flour, 1 cup breadcrumbs, 2/3 cup of sugar, 2/3 cup of suet, 1 cup of fruit

1 beaten egg made up to 1 cup of milk, Tsp of bicarbonate of soda, Tsp mixed spice.

Mix all dry ingredients, stir in liquid ingredients. Steam in a greased basin for a minimum of three hours.

Another suspicion I have that I have in fact been eating christmas pudding all these years is that it literally looks exactly the same. Whilst my Great Nan’s six cup pudding is much lighter in colour than your traditional xmas pud, and much less alcoholic tasting, it basically is made with exactly the same method.

My yearly contribution to the phenomenon of six cup pudding is making the custard, which I always seem to ruin. I remember one Christmas putting too much milk in so that when it was microwaved, it went literally everywhere - I still ate it all, of course.

Day 5: On the fifth day, I decided to go to an apparent student favourite called Mooboo. Since it was the last day, I was mentally prepared to order one of their specials to end this exploration with a bang. Even though all places had an extensive menu, I was almost shocked when I saw something called Savoury Tea, the options of which included cheese in their recipe. Nonetheless, I decided to go with the special Strawberry Brûlée milk tea. This was the most expensive boba I had purchased over the last few days, and it tasted like absolute luxury.

The five bubble tea-filled days undisputedly gave me room to explore and expand my palate in the beverage department. My little exploration journey made me feel an out-of-ordinary experience that bubble teas offer as they challenge the status quo of standard soft drinks and milkshakes by embodying a modernised version of them all. Though I set out to pick my favourite place, it is only fair if you try them yourself. That said, I would truly recommend trying bubble tea if you haven’t before (like me) and finding your boba gem.

Your Local Foodbanks Emily Sinclair

With the winter ahead of us and costs increasing by the day, I’ve made this handy list of our local foodbanks for anyone who needs them. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to use them if you’re struggling, it is what they’re there for.

In order to get access to a foodbank you will need a voucher. These are issued through local agencies and all the information can be found at https://york.foodbank.org.uk/get-help/foodbank-vouchers/

Gateway Centre. YO24 3BZ. Monday 11:00-13:00

Vineyard Church (Fishergate). YO10 4AH. Tuesday 10:00-12:00

Living World Church (Huntington Road). YO31 9BP. Wednesday 13:00-15:00

St Joseph’s Church Hall. YO30 6JX. Thursday 14:00-16:00

Cornerstone (Tang Hall). YO10 3AP. Friday 10:30-12:30.