There is something subtly civilized about the taking of afternoon tea. It’s a largely ladylike diversion, tailor-made for bridal showers and birthday parties, but afternoon tea can also be the event, not just a reflection of the food and beverages served at one.
Afternoon tea parties have been lampooned – most notably in the tale of Alice in Wonderland – but they have never fallen from grace.
Tea came to Europe from India and China at a time when the sun reportedly never set on the English Empire. The English embraced it as no others before them.
They valued tea so highly that it was taxed when it came into the colonies – a situation that led to some unfortunate consequences in Boston Harbor, you may recall.
In England today, teatime remains as popular as coffee breaks are here, albeit a little more rigidly defined. Afternoon tea, by definition, offers participants at best a light meal and often no more than a few sweet nibbles along with their tea. High tea is an evening event that, among the working class, often counts for the evening meal, according to well-known Warrick County native Marilyn Kluger, who has organized many group trips to Britain.
In some quarters, a late-morning tea, called “elevenses,” for the hour in which it is served, may offer little more than a few “tea cakes” to slake hunger and provide a boost into the rest of the day.
During the month of May, especially during the Wimbledon tennis tournaments, Kluger said the custom is to serve strawberries with tea – fresh, with whipped or “clotted” cream, or as jam spread on scones (scones are like biscuits; see recipe below). This seasonal interlude is called “strawberry tea.”
Brewed tea has undergone a metamorphosis in America: We serve it cold.
The first recorded glass of iced tea served here was in 1904 at the World’s Fair in St. Louis during an unusually hot and humid summer, which made the sales of hot tea pretty impossible. An enterprising tea salesman iced down his brew to enhance his sales, and Americans have pretty much never looked back.
Here is a menu plan for a tea party that incorporates some of the classic finger foods served at a traditional afternoon tea. The beverage itself can be served hot or cold (as even the Brits admit) depending on the weather.
Any kind of tea will do – from standard orange pekoe (like Lipton brand) to black Darjeeling, Assam (both named for the regions in India where they are grown) and the wonderfully fruity Earl Grey – a black tea infused with oil of bergamot.
Even caffeine-free herbal teas can be incorporated into this event; mint tea is an especially refreshing beverage served over ice on a sultry afternoon.
At the end of your interlude, offer your guests a glass of sherry.
It’s the civilized thing to do...
