Tea at 5 o'clock!
Although it is a relatively recent tradition, afternoon tea won the hearts of the English and entered the daily ritual, making it easier to wait for dinner.
From Asia, tea arrived in Europe in the 16th century through Venetian and Portuguese traders. In England, the drink was popularized in the 1660s by King Charles II and his Portuguese wife, Infanta Catherine de Braganza, but it was not until the middle of the 19th century that the tea ritual appeared at 5 o'clock.
The one who came up with the idea for tea at 5 o'clock was Anne, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. She asked her maid to bring her all the necessities for making tea, to serve it with bread and butter. , waiting for dinner. Loving the idea of this snack, Ana started inviting her friends over for tea in her room and gradually a new social event was born. The ladies gathered in the afternoons to exchange news, talk about fashion and scandals, all over a cup of tea, served with biscuits, bread with butter or other small snacks.
The Dutch were also among the first Europeans to ship large quantities of this plant. History has it that only tea reached the British table (many years only for the handshake), the monopoly on this business being held for more than a decade by the East India Company.
From the end of the 19th century to the present day, the British also measure patriotism in the number of cups of tea served in a year. The former British colonies in Java, India, and Sri Lanka cultivated true "tea fields" for use in England, with coffee (from Arabia) being somehow in the hands of the kingdom. Even in the 21st century, the UK imports 144,000 tonnes of the popular plant a year, an impressive 165 million cups of tea being drunk every day.
How to consume afternoon tea around the world
For many, the afternoon tea is the one served by the British - a black tea with a drop of milk and a cube of sugar, for those who prefer sweets. There are, however, a multitude of ways to make tea around the world.
China
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First a richly ornamented ceramic teapot is heated with hot water, then the tea leaves are added. Hot but not boiling water is used to rinse the leaves, then discard. Then add another amount of hot water to the kettle until it comes out. Surface debris is removed and everything is covered with a lid.
The tea is usually infused for only a minute, before being poured with a continuous movement into cups arranged in a semicircle.
India
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The most drunk tea in India is chai: a strong black tea flavored with cardamom, fennel seeds, cloves and other spices. It can be found most often at street vendors and is prepared according to special rules.
The seller first prepares a fragrant mixture of spices that can contain cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and others, crushed to a fine powder. The mixture is poured into a saucepan with boiling water, a few black tea leaves are added, and the whole mixture is left to boil for five minutes.
Morocco
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The process of making Moroccan tea begins with arranging a set of small glasses on a tray. In a kettle mix green tea leaves and mint with a piece of sugar. The tea maker then pours hot water over the mixture and infuses for a few minutes.
When the tea is ready, pour it masterfully into the glass glasses from a height of 30 centimeters.
UK
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The traditional afternoon tea in British homes is most often a black tea from India, most likely Assam, served with mini sandwiches with cucumber and scones with jam and sour cream.