Teatime

Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes afternoon teas of various kinds, and provides menus for the old-fashioned tea, the at-home tea, the family tea, and the high tea. Teatime is the time at which the tea meal is usually eaten, which is late afternoon to early evening, being the equivalent of merienda. Tea as a meal is associated with Great Britain, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries. Confusingly, some people in Britain refer to their main evening meal as "tea" rather than dinner or supper. This article is instead concerned with the various types of secondary, lighter, meals called "tea".

As a secondary meal, the timing of tea has moved over time in response to the moving later and later of the main dinner. Until the late 18th century dinner was eaten at what we now call "lunchtime", or in the early afternoon; supper was a later and lighter meal. Gradually dinner began to migrate, amid much controversy, until by about 1900 it arrived at its present timing in the evening. The earliest "tea" meals were often in the early evening, some three or four hours after dinner, or even later, after a supper and before bed. The philosopher Thomas Carlyle and his wife invited guests for 7 pm to their teas in the 1850s, although afternoon tea before dinner was also becoming established by this time.

The most common ingredients of a light tea are tea itself, with cakes, biscuits or pastries (especially scones), bread and jam, and perhaps sandwiches; these are the ingredients of "traditional afternoon tea" meals offered by expensive London hotels. But there may be other types of both drink and food offered or eaten at home.

Afternoon tea is a light meal typically eaten between 3.30 pm and 5 pm. Observance of the custom originated amongst the wealthy social classes in England in the 1840s, as the time of dinner moved later. Anna Maria, Duchess of Bedford, is widely credited as inventing afternoon tea in England as a late-afternoon meal whilst visiting Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. By the end of the nineteenth century, afternoon tea developed to its current form and was observed by both the upper and middle classes. It had become ubiquitous, even in the isolated village in the fictionalised memoir Lark Rise to Candleford, where a cottager lays out what she calls a "visitor's tea" for their landlady: "the table was laid… there were the best tea things with a fat pink rose on the side of each cup; hearts of lettuce, thin bread and butter, and the crisp little cakes that had been baked in readiness that morning."

For the more privileged, afternoon tea was accompanied by thinly-sliced bread and butter, delicate sandwiches (customarily cucumber sandwiches or egg and cress sandwiches) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg cake, shortbread petticoat tails, or Victoria sponge). Scones (with clotted cream and jam) may also be served (as they are for cream tea). The sandwiches are usually crustless, cut into small segments, either as triangles or fingers, and pressed thin. Biscuits are not usually served.

Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is more of a special occasion, taken as a treat in a hotel. The food is often served on a tiered stand; there may be no sandwiches, but bread or scones with butter and jam, or toast, muffins or crumpets. Afternoon tea as a treat may be supplemented with a glass of Champagne or a similar alcoholic drink. This is a more recent innovation.

A less formal establishment is known as a teahouse or tearoom, similar to a coffeehouse. These used to be common in the UK, but these establishments have declined in popularity since the Second World War. A.B.C. tea shops and Lyons Corner Houses were successful chains of such establishments, and played a role in opening up possibilities for Victorian women. A list of significant tea houses in Britain gives more examples.

The custom of taking afternoon tea with bread or pastry was also common in some continental European areas, though such customs are not widely known in English-speaking countries. For example, Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière wrote in 1804 of afternoon tea in Switzerland.

Quelle: Wikipedia