Boxed Tree Juice?
Originally uploaded by gaikokujinkyofusho.
When traveling I am always on the lookout for new foods and, in this case, drinks. I was recently in Ukraine and noticed a variety of foods, many could probably fall in the category of “Russian Influenced” (can talk about Azerbaijan and Potatoes later) or as the Ukrainians might argue “Ukrainian influenced”, food. What came to mind when I first saw this was “tree juice in a box” and I am not too far off, it is a tea of sorts brewed from the birch tree. I was very amused (yes, I do amuse myself on occasion) to see tree juice but after some thought this is not so strange in that sassafras (a tree) tea is not so strange and I remember my great aunt telling me about cutting birch trees and then coming back later to collect the sap and chew on it like chewing gum. Truth be known this photo was taken months ago (4?) and I just hadn’t gotten around (lack of inspiration) to posting it but upon finding a variation on this juice which was about as Russian as one can get I was inspired to post this photo as a prelude of sorts.
