Tea (meal)

This article is about tea, the meal. For the beverage, see Tea.

Depending on a country's customs, tea can refer to any of several different meals or mealtimes.

Origin of the term

Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford had the idea of asking her butler to bring tea, bread and butter to her chambers at 5 o'clock, as she found herself hungry before dinner, and soon started inviting her friends to join her in her sitting room for this new social event. Eventually, the beverage tea became generally affordable and the growing middle class imitated the rich and found that the meal tea was a very economical way of entertaining several friends without having to spend too much money, and afternoon tea quickly became the norm.

United Kingdom

Afternoon tea

A cup of tea

Afternoon tea is a light meal typically eaten at 4 o'clock. It originated in the United Kingdom, though various places that used to be part of the former British Empire also have such a meal. However, changes in social customs and working hours mean that most Britons only take afternoon tea on special/formal occasions.

Traditionally, loose tea would be served in a teapot with milk and sugar. This would be accompanied by various sandwiches (customarily cucumber, egg and cress, fish paste (bloater), ham, and smoked salmon), scones (with butter, clotted cream and jam — see cream tea) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). The food would be often served in a tiered stand.

While afternoon tea used to be an everyday event, nowadays it is more likely to be taken as a treat in a hotel, café, or tea shop, although many Britons still have a cup of tea and slice of cake or chocolate at teatime. Accordingly, many hotels now market a champagne cream tea.

High tea

Afternoon Tea at the Istanbul Kampinski Hotel

High Tea (also known as Meat Tea) is an early evening meal, typically eaten between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening. It would be eaten as a substitute for both afternoon tea and the evening meal. The term comes from the meal being eaten at the ‘high’ (main) table, instead of the smaller lounge table. It is now largely replaced by a later evening meal.

It would usually consist of cold meats, eggs and/or fish, cakes and sandwiches. In a family, it tends to be less formal and is an informal snack (featuring sandwiches, biscuits, pastry, fruit and the like) or else it is the main evening meal.

On farms or other working class environments, high tea would be the traditional, substantial meal eaten by the workers immediately after nightfall, and would combine afternoon tea with the main evening meal.

In recent years, High Tea has become a word for exquisite afternoon tea. However, this usage is incorrect and should be discouraged for reasons given below.

Main evening meal

In some of England the three main meals are referred to as 'breakfast, lunch and tea' where in Standard English they are 'breakfast, lunch and dinner'.

Ireland

In Ireland "to have your Tea" can mean either the main evening meal or a meal afterwards like supper. Although Tea would mostly follow a dinner meal and would usually take place between 6pm and 9pm.

Africa

Afternoon tea was served daily in upper class homes in Commonwealth countries through the end of the 20th Century. The tradition continues in some countries, in others tea is served less frequently. Afternoon tea is generally available in high-end hotels, restaurants and cafés.

In Kenya, tea (or chi, as it's called) is served scalding hot with lots of milk and is usually incredibly sweet. In northern Kenya, Tea time is used not so much as a snack, but a mid afternoon break time from work to rest, cool off, and drink tea.

Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay

Snacks are eaten at 5:00 pm and include medialunas (crescent-shaped rolls), miga sandwiches (very thin bread), dulce de leche, dulce de membrillo (sweet quince paste), marmalade or butter spread over bread, and assorted bizcochos and pastries with tea, coffee, café con leche or mate. This light meal is called Merienda.

Mexico

It's a light meal eaten late afternoon before dinner that includes assorted sweet breads or antojitos: enchiladas, pambazos, tamales, quesadillas, sopes or tacos and is accompanied with a hot drink such as tea, coffee, hot chocolate or other types of drinks.

In many Latin American countries (e.g. Argentina, Mexico etc. ), this light meal is called Merienda.

Australia and New Zealand

Many Australians call the early evening meal their tea while others will call it dinner; though both words are mutually understood to mean the same thing. The prominence of this usage is due to the influence of Scottish people for whom dinner is a meal eaten at midday and tea is the evening meal. Although the proportion of Scottish settlers being much greater in New Zealand than in Australia, in modern New Zealand the midday meal is still termed lunch. Hence Australians and New Zealanders commonly describe the three main meals as breakfast, lunch, and tea.

Afternoon tea is not served daily but is served more frequently than in the United States. The meal is sometimes called high tea on the same understanding as in the U.S. (see below) but purists consider such usage erroneous. Cream teas are referred to as Devonshire Teas and are available in many high-end restaurants and cafés.

During the working day tea break or just tea can refer to either morning tea (corresponding to elevenses and coffee break) or afternoon tea. This may be taken in a designated tea room. Colloquially, this can be referred to as a "morning smoko" or just "smoko"; which in times past was understood to mean a cup of tea, maybe something sweet or a sandwich, and a cigarette. This term is commonly used by tradesmen and the building industry.

Canada

Due to the great variation of cultures scattered across Canada, one may find families in the same neighbourhood who observe any or none of the tea customs found in the rest of the world. Cattle ranchers on Ranch Creek may prefer coffee in the morning to tea in the afternoon, a Hong Kong Chinese business meeting in Markham may take afternoon tea (see below), and on Vancouver Island, especially in the city of Victoria, you may find those who socialize over tea and scones at four.

Germany

In Germany the traditional afternoon meal is called Kaffee (coffee), Nachmittagskaffee (Afternoon Coffee) or Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake). Only sweet foodstuffs are served, with cream-based cakes taking priority (such as Black Forest gateau), although drier forms of cake, fruit tarts and pastries may also be served. In modern times, because of work and lack of time, a Kaffee is an event reserved for Sunday afternoons with a carefully set coffee table, tablecloth, and invited guests.

The practice of consuming extremely rich concoctions flourished during the German economic recovery period — the Wirtschaftswunder of the 1950s and 1960s — as a reaction against the austerity and rationing of the war and immediate post-war years.

Traditionally coffee is the preferred drink served (with cream, or condensed milk, and/or sugar), but in recent decades tea has become more popular also to the common German people. In North-Germany, e.g. Lübeck, Bremen and esp. Hamburg, as well as in Friesland esp. East Frisia, however, tea has always been traditional. Also, in the upper class and the German bourgeois esp. of the 19th and early 20th century tea was the preferred drink, they also called it Tea instead of Nachmittagskaffee, they had their Afternoon Tea and also Tea Parties. People like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were known for their tea parties, and authors like Heinrich Heine were known as fanatic tea lovers. The afternoon tea at the home of Thomas Mann was also quite famous (a TV Station in the 1950s produced a documentary called Afternoon Tea with Thomas Mann, in which Mann invited the viewer to tea and then served a cup of tea to the camera). In the late 19th and early 20th century, tea was also extremely popular in Berlin and in parts of today's East Germany. The origin maybe lies in the German tea culture, esp. of the Prussian aristocracy, which dates back to the 17th century.

Germans are also well aware of the U.K. custom, and refer to it by the English words Tea Time. Friends may sometimes gather to have an English-style tea instead of the usual Nachmittagskaffee.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, afternoon tea is common, although not a meal served daily. Usually some light "snacks" such as sandwiches, toast, or even more elaborated such as fried chicken, French toast, Chiu Chow Style Noodles, and even a mini meal would be served together with milk tea, coffee, Horlicks, Ovaltine, yuenyeung or lemon tea. Many local fast food restaurants, such as Café de Coral, sell afternoon tea sets.

Also in Hong Kong, as well as in other parts of southern China, is the unrelated custom of yum cha (飲 茶, or yam2 cha4, Cantonese for "drinking tea"). Yum cha refers to a meal at which tea and dim sum is consumed, often on social occasions. Yum cha is a native Chinese custom, and is not derived from British or other European tea-drinking traditions. Unlike European tea, which is frequently taken in the home, yum cha is almost always consumed in a dim sum restaurant or teahouse.

Italy

In Tuscan tradition, this afternoon meal is called Merenda.

Pakistan

Tea is the most consumed beverage in Pakistan; other than being consumed at breakfast or evening, it is also commonly served to guests. In Pakistan tea usually means black tea with milk.

United States

The term high tea is sometimes used in the United States to refer to afternoon tea or the tea party, a very formal, ritualised gathering in which tea, thin sandwiches and little cakes are served on the best china. This usage comes from misunderstanding the term high to mean formal. Most etiquette mavens advise that such usage is incorrect; (Etiquette authority Judith Martin's tongue-in-cheek interpretation is, "It's high time we had something to eat.")

This form of tea is increasingly served in high-end U.S. hotels, often during the Christmas holidays and other tourist seasons, and a rising number of big-city teahouses, where it is usually correctly described as Afternoon Tea (see the history, above). An up and coming trend in hotels spas and high end restaurants is Tea Sommelier training[1].

The tea party is still occasionally given in the U.S., either for a special occasion or in honor of a visiting celebrity or guest. This occasion is a formal one in which ladies wear good afternoon dresses or suits and gentlemen wear business suits, but otherwise afternoon tea is an informal gathering of friends. In 1922 Emily Post wrote that servants should not enter the room during afternoon tea except if summoned to bring fresh hot water or remove soiled dishes, so as not to interrupt the intimate nature of the gathering and its conversation.

American situation comedies might center a joke around an eccentric British character having his afternoon tea. However, Hollywood used afternoon tea as a device to indicate social class or status; in movies such as Notorious, Marnie (both directed by Englishman Alfred Hitchcock, but set in the United States) and Pocketful of Miracles specific reference is made to the fact that a lady would have afternoon tea. Popular culture portrays upper class women as taking afternoon tea with friends at restaurants or serving it to friends in their homes; by-and-large middle class women by contrast have a coffee break in their kitchens.

Use in cricket

In cricket, the second and usually shorter of the two intervals during a match lasting a full day or more is known as the tea interval, and also (more formally but less commonly) the afternoon tea interval. The interval is an opportunity for the players and umpires to partake in light refreshments. The ex-England international Phil Tufnell was well known to enjoy this break, sometimes having as many as three cups in a twenty minute break.

See also

• British cuisine
• Cream tea (Devonshire tea)
• Tea
• Tea party
• Tea dance
• Tea sandwich
• Tea set

External links

• "Teas and Other Afternoon Parties", Chapter XIII of Emily Post's Etiquette (1922), at Bartleby.com