Tea (meal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1 sur 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tea can refer to any of several different meals or mealtimes, depending on a country's customs and its
history of drinking tea. However, in those countries where the term's use is common, the influences are
generally those of the former British Empire (now the Commonwealth of Nations). Tea as a meal can be
small or large.
1 United Kingdom and Ireland
1.1 Elevenses
1.2 Afternoon tea / low tea
1.3 High tea
1.4 Other uses
2 France, Belgium and Switzerland
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Elevenses
Main article: Elevenses
Elevenses is a snack that is similar to afternoon tea, but eaten in the morning.[1] It is generally less savoury
than brunch, and might consist of some cake or biscuits with a cup of coffee or tea.[citation needed]
Afternoon tea / low tea
Afternoon tea or low tea is a
small meal snack typically
eaten between 4pm and 6pm.
Observance of the custom
originated amongst the
wealthy classes in England in
the 1840s.[2][3] Anna Maria
Russell, Duchess of Bedford,
is widely credited as
Afternoon tea finger foods
transforming afternoon tea (or
A cup of tea
low tea) in England into a
late-afternoon meal whilst visiting Belvoir Castle, though Charles II
of England's wife Catherine of Braganza is often credited with introducing tea to the court upon her arrival
in 1662.[4][5][6][7] By the end of the nineteenth century, afternoon tea or low tea had developed into its
current form and was observed by both the upper and middle classes: "the table was laid...there were the
best things with a fat pink rose on the side of each cup; hearts of lettuce, thin bread and butter, and the crisp
12.03.2013 09:56
Tea (meal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2 sur 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)
little cakes that had been baked in readiness that morning."[8]
Traditionally, loose tea is brewed in a teapot and served with milk
and sugar. The sugar and caffeine of the concoction provided
fortification against afternoon doldrums for the working poor of 19th
and early 20th century England who had a significantly lower calorie
count and more physically demanding occupation than most
Westerners today. For laborers, the tea was sometimes accompanied
by a small sandwich or baked snack (such as scones) that had been
packed for them in the morning. For the more privileged, afternoon
Cornish cream tea in Boscastle,
tea was accompanied by luxury ingredient sandwiches (customarily
although prepared in the Devonshire
cucumber, egg and cress, fish paste, ham, and smoked salmon),
Method
scones (with clotted cream and jam, see cream tea) and usually cakes
and pastries (such as Battenberg cake, fruit cake or Victoria sponge).
In hotels and tea shops the food is often served on a tiered stand; there may be no sandwiches, but bread or
scones with butter or margarine and optional jam or other spread, or toast, muffins or crumpets.[9][10][11]
For much of the twentieth century, methods of preparing and serving afternoon tea were the subject of much
snobbery. In a letter to Nancy Mitford, a social commentator and great satirist of upper class behavior, the
author Evelyn Waugh mentions a mutual friend who uses the expression 'rather milk in first' to express
condemnation of those lower down the social scale. This expression was used by the Georgian and Victorian
elite to deride their middle-class governesses for the practice of pouring milk into the cup first, dubbing
them "milk-in-first misses." [12] In the British film Gosford Park the tension is depicted as continuing to
exist; Lady Sylvia McCordle sneers at the police Inspector Thomson for putting the "milk in first" and in the
film he quickly realises how the act demonstrates his social "inferiority" and becomes embarrassed.
Nowadays the 'milk in first or tea in first' debate is altogether more light-hearted, but nonetheless everyone
has his or her preferred method of making tea.[13]
Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes afternoon
teas of various kinds: the old-fashioned tea, the at-home tea, the family tea and the high tea and provides
menus.[14] Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is often taken as a treat in a hotel or tea shop.[15] Most high
quality hotels in Britain serve afternoon tea, sometimes in a palm court, and more recently have offered the
option of champagne instead of tea.[16][17]
In everyday life, many Britons take a much simpler refreshment consisting of tea (and occasionally biscuits)
as one of many short tea breaks throughout the day.[citation needed]
High tea
High tea (also known as meat tea[18]) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten
between 5pm and 7pm.[19][20]
High tea typically consists of a hot dish such as fish and chips, shepherd's pie, or macaroni cheese, followed
by cakes and bread, butter and jam. Occasionally there would be cold cuts of meat, such as ham salad.
Traditionally, high tea was eaten by middle- to upper-class children (whose parents would have a more
formal dinner later) or by labourers, miners and the like when they came home from work. The term was
first used around 1825, and high is used in the sense of well-advanced (like high noon, for example) to
signify that it was taken later in the day.[21]
The term "high tea" was used as a way to distinguish it from afternoon tea. Though it is often stated that the
words "low" and "high" refer to the height of the tables from which either meal was eaten. Afternoon tea
was served in the garden where possible; otherwise it was usually taken in a day room, library or salon
12.03.2013 09:56
Tea (meal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3 sur 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)
where low tables (like a coffee table) were placed near sofas or chairs generally (hence the fallacy about it
being low tea).[22]
Other uses
In many parts of the British Isles,[23] tea is used to mean the main evening meal, and may include having
scones, cakes, sandwiches, and pastries.
French-speaking nations have "le goûter"[24][25] or "le quatre
heures",[26] in other words, the 4:00 afternoon snack. Le goûter is
often prepared for hungry children who have returned from school,
to keep them satisfied until dinner.
Generally le goûter consists of a baguette or roll with butter and jam
or chocolate shavings or other chocolate spread, or chocolate
cookies, accompanied by hot chocolate, or orange juice, but never
with tea or coffee (café au lait or milky tea are for breakfast; tea and
coffee being considered as too exciting for children at the end of the
Tea party in Paris in 1929 (by Jules
daytime). Goûter for adults may consist of fruit syrups in water or
Grün)
sparkling water, and light biscuits (cookies) or pastries. Although it
never really went away, the custom is now becoming very trendy in
France as a nostalgic wave of baby boomers recall their childhood gastronomic pleasures.[citation needed]
The goûter, for children, is different from the tea party in France, or "thé" in French, which is a little formal
party in the afternoon given at home for adult guests, usually between 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock. It consists of
tea, juices, lemonade, or syrups, pastries, petits fours, and biscuits or cakes. The cocktail party is only held
after 7 o'clock, and includes alcohol, whereas "thé" does not.[citation needed]
British cuisine
Tiffin
Tea
1. ^ Harper, Timothy (1997). Passport United
Kingdom: Your Pocket Guide to British Business,
Customs and Etiquette. World Trade Press.
ISBN 1-885073-28-3.
2. ^ p. 209, Pool, Daniel (1993) "What Jane Austen
Ate and Charles Dickens Knew," Touchstone/Simon
& Schuster, New York
3. ^ "High Tea, Low Tea, Afternoon Tea"
(http://www.blendedmec.com/whistle-stop/hightea-low-tea-afternoon-tea) . MacMillan English
Campus Website. http://www.blendedmec.com
/whistle-stop/high-tea-low-tea-afternoon-tea.
Retrieved 21 November 2012.
4. ^ Food & Drink ~ Woburn Abbey
Tea dance
Tea sandwich
Tea set
(http://www.woburn.co.uk/abbey/food-and-drink/)
5. ^ Historic UK. "Afternoon Tea"
(http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK
/afternoon-tea/) . Historic UK website.
http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK
/afternoon-tea/. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
6. ^ Fortnum & Mason Tea Specialist, Margot.
"Origins of Afternoon Tea"
(http://www.fortnumandmason.com/c-380the-origins-of-afternoon-tea-fortnumand-mason.aspx) . Fortnum & Mason Website.
http://www.fortnumandmason.com/c-380the-origins-of-afternoon-tea-fortnumand-mason.aspx. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
12.03.2013 09:56
Tea (meal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4 sur 5
7. ^ UK Tea Council. "Influence of a Portuguese
Princess" (http://www.tea.co.uk/catherineof-braganza) . Tea Council Website.
http://www.tea.co.uk/catherine-of-braganza.
Retrieved 21 November 2012.
8. ^ Pettigrew, Jane (2001). A Social History of Tea.
London: The National Trust. pp. 102–105.
9. ^ Mason, Laura; Brown, Catherine (1999) From
Bath Chaps to Bara Brith. Totnes: Prospect Books
10. ^ Pettigrew, Jane (2004) Afternoon Tea. Andover:
Jarrold.
11. ^ Fitzgibbon, Theodora (1972) A Taste of England:
the West Country. London: J. M. Dent.
12. ^ Austin, Jane (1813). Pride and Prejudice
(http://www.dwiggie.com/derby/elnr2c.htm) .
Chapter XV of Volume III: T. Egerton, Whitehall.
ISBN 9781426455377. http://www.dwiggie.com
/derby/elnr2c.htm.
13. ^ UK Tea Council. "Milk in First or Tea in First"
(http://www.tea.co.uk/a-social-history#rationing) .
Tea Council website. http://www.tea.co.uk/a-socialhistory#rationing. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
14. ^ Beeton, Isabella (1901) Mrs Beeton's Cookery
Book, new ed. London: Ward, Lock; pp. 282-83.
15. ^ Daily Mail Reporter. "Daily Mail"
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1373944
/Afternoon-tea-popular-hotels-huge-boost-businessthanks-brew.html) . Afternoon tea is more popular
than ever as more hotels get a huge boost in
business thanks to the brew.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1373944
/Afternoon-tea-popular-hotels-huge-boost-businessthanks-brew.html. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
16. ^ Ritz Carlton web site
17. ^ Scott, Chloe. "Save our scones: Why afternoon
tea is on the decline and how to save it"
(http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/909208-save-our-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
scones-why-afternoon-tea-is-on-the-declineand-how-to-save-it) . The Metro Newspaper Online.
http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/909208-save-ourscones-why-afternoon-tea-is-on-the-declineand-how-to-save-it. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
^ April 23.—Mr. and Mrs. James (Miss Fullers that
was) came to meat tea, and we left directly after for
the Tank Theatre". The Diary of a Nobody. George
and Weedon Grossmith, with illustrations by
Weedon Grossmith. 1892.
^ UK Tea Council. "Tea Customs"
(http://www.tea.co.uk/tea-customs) .
http://www.tea.co.uk/tea-customs. Retrieved 21
November 2012.
^ About.com. "What is the Difference Between
Afternoon Tea and High Tea?"
(http://britishfood.about.com/od/faq
/f/highteavafttea.htm) . http://britishfood.about.com
/od/faq/f/highteavafttea.htm. Retrieved 21
November 2012.
^ Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition
^ "When the Queen came to tea", R Moody
^ "SNDS2 3. TEA, n" (http://www.dsl.ac.uk/) .
Dictionary of the Scots Language. Scottish
Language Dictionaries. http://www.dsl.ac.uk/.
Retrieved 12 January 2012. "In Glasgow they ask
you if you would like your tea [evening meal] — in
Edinburgh they say, 'You'll have had your tea.'"
^ Le Goûter (http://www.legouter.fr/)
^ Le Gouter, French Afternoon Snack for
Schoolkids Reinvented by Grown Ups - Serge the
Concierge (http://www.sergetheconcierge.com
/2010/01/le-gouter-french-afternoon-snackfor-schoolkids-reinvented-by-grown-ups.html/)
^ quatre heures - Wiktionnaire
(http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/quatre_heures)
"Teas and Other Afternoon Parties" (http://www.bartleby.com/95/13.html) , Chapter XIII of Emily
Post's Etiquette (1922)
SBS Food story on high tea (http://www.sbs.com.au/food/article
/4277/Featured_Foodie_Michelle_Milton)
Wikibooks Cookbook (http://wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook)
History of the afternoon tea tradition from China (http://www.cosmopolis.ch/lifestyle
/afternoon_tea.htm)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tea_(meal)&oldid=543477509"
Categories: Meals Tea culture
This page was last modified on 11 March 2013 at 19:26.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
12.03.2013 09:56
Tea (meal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5 sur 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_(meal)
12.03.2013 09:56