SIMON'S FOOD SCHOOL:
Stuff You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Food
TIME FOR A NICE CUP OF TEA
Anyone who follows my adventures on social media will know that I am very rarely more than a few steps from a nice hot mug of tea (in fact, I am sipping one as I am typing this very feature). I am not a coffee drinker, but for me, life without tea is something that is, quite frankly, too unbearable to imagine. It is the only thing I request when I am filming one of the shows in which I appear, and a good supply of tea bags is the first thing that finds its way into my suitcase when preparing for one of my many days on the road.
I usually have three large mugs of tea a day. The first, soon after I wake up, is a strong cup of “builder's” tea, powerful enough to hoist my eyelids open for the day ahead. The last is a weaker, milkier cup to help supper go down without keeping me awake all night. Both are wonderful and necessary, but it is the mug of the tea in the early afternoon that is the one to which I look forward the most of all. Usually taken with a small piece of chocolate, it is enough to fill the gap between my simple breakfast of nuts and fruit, and a more elaborate supper composed of whatever dish I have been recipe testing that day.
I am not alone however, as the cup of tea at 4 pm has been a beloved British tradition since the early part of the 19th Century. For some, it might be, like mine, accompanied by just a small bite. For those with more time, however, that beautiful “cuppa” might come with a more formidable meal in the form of an array of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits, or what has now become known as the great British “Afternoon Tea.”
Now, let’s just take a minute to clear up some confusion over terms. You will often see hotels and tea rooms offering to serve you “High Tea.” This is in fact incorrect. Afternoon Tea and High Tea were two totally different meals enjoyed by totally different strata of society. High Tea was a more substantial meal taken by the lower and burgeoning middle classes and derived its name from the fact it was taken at the higher dinner table. Afternoon Tea was a treat reserved for those in the higher levels of society (think Downton Abbey) who needed a small pick me up between their two main meals of the day, breakfast at 8.30am and dinner, which was served nearly twelve hours later.
The first person to request this new repast was Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, while she was staying at her country residence, Belvoir (pronounced Beaver) Castle. One day she complained of having a “sinking feeling” in the middle of the afternoon. She was helped by the delivery to her room of a pot of tea and a snack of cakes and sandwiches. It did the trick and she made it a daily ritual, which she took back with her to London, where she began to invite friends to join her.
These salons became so popular that other ladies of note began to copy her and throw their own tea parties. These remained only for the very wealthiest in society until the opening of the first London hotels in the 1830s. At the same time, tea became increasingly more affordable, which meant that it was more available to the middle classes.
That being said, a proper Afternoon Tea is still not a cheap affair. My favorite in London is at Brown’s Hotel (the oldest hotel in London) where it now costs a whopping £47.50 a person. However, based on my last tea there, you probably will not need to think about eating for another few days. If you are ever in London, you should definitely try to take Afternoon Tea at one of the grand hotels. Indeed, any good hotel, anywhere in the world should offer a decent version. But, if any of them offer it up as “High Tea,” please feel free to point them in my direction.
Even though a full on “Afternoon Tea” may now be too much for my middle aged constitution to take on too regular a basis, I still have a lot to thank Anna the 7th Duchess of Bedford for and, I shall continue to raise a steaming mug to her every time I have my 4 pm cuppa and a little bite of chocolate to fight away that “sinking feeling” every day.
For more interesting facts on Afternoon Tea, visit here.
