A is for Afternoon Tea

 

“Afternoon tea should be provided, fresh supplies, with thin bread-and-butter, fancy pastries, cakes, etc., being brought in as other guests arrive.” – Isabella Beeton, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management

 Anna Stanhope, the seventh Duchess of Bedford and a lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, is credited with starting the trend for afternoon tea in the 19th century.  In Victorian times, it was usual to eat only two meals a day, breakfast on rising (late) and then a very late supper.  The Duchess was peckish one afternoon and asked for tea, small cakes, and bread and butter to be brought to her room to tide her over.  Voila!  The first afternoon tea.  This became a habit and soon the Duchess invited friends to join her and eventually Queen Victoria joined in as well.  Afternoon tea began to be served outside the home, often in beautiful surroundings, and an industry to support the new social occasion of afternoon tea with beautiful china, linens, and serving pieces evolved.

Afternoon tea is usually served, as its name implies, in the afternoon and it's not to be confused with High Tea which is a meal served in the early evening and usually eaten by the lower classes, the working classes so to speak, and gets its name from the higher tables at which they took their meal.  High tea would be a hot meal of meat pies and potatoes with tea and bread.  High tea in later years evolved into things like scrambled eggs or beans on toast, when those who went out to work usually ate a hot meal served in the company canteen and only required a smaller meal in the evening.

Two other introductory terms I'd like include to get 2024's A to Z Tea Time started off are a royal afternoon tea, which is an afternoon tea served with the addition of a glass of champagne, and a cream tea which omits the sandwiches and small cakes in favor of the simpler fare of tea and scones.

Have you ever had afternoon tea?