|
ICANEWS
Marzo 2004, Año 1 # 2 |
|
| How
did this tradition begin? |
Tea
was introduced in Great Britain in the 1650's. It was brought
from the Far East in Dutch ships.
Tea was initially received with interest and suspicion.
Eventually, along with coffee, tea became an accepted alternative
to ale. It was first considered a fashionable
luxury. As the tea grade grew, it became less expensive and
eventually became the drink of choice for everyone in Britain
- rich and poor alike.
It wasn't until the 1800's that the women of the middle and
upper classes perfected the way they took their tea. In the
late 1700's, breakfast was usually at 9:30 a.m., dinner (which
was the main meal) was around 4 or 5 p.m.,
and a light supper at 10 p.m. In the early 1800's, dinner
was moved to 6:30 or 7. Luncheon was introduced, supper disappeared
and dinner got later, causing the gap between the meals to
lengthen.
It is said it was the Duchess of Bedford who had the bright
idea to invite her friends to her boudoir
around 5 o'clock for tea and cakes. This meal was to help
quell the pangs of hunger.
By the 1850's, tea was being served in the drawing room and
became a focus for social visits. Many housekeepers were kept
busy preparing a variety of cakes, biscuits and preserves.
Afternoon tea became an institution. So much so that even
today, afternoon tea still takes us back to Victorian England
Top |
| Glossary |
Dutch:
holandés
Ships: barcos
Suspicion: sospecha
Ale: cerveza
Fashionable: ala moda, moderno
Alike: por igual
Meal: comida (desayuno, almuerzo, té,
cena)
Lengthen: alargarse
Boudoir: saloncito
Quell: sofocar, suprimir
Pangs: dolor agudo, punzada
Hunger: hambre
Preserves: confituras
Top
|
| Tea Encyclopedia |
There are over
3,000 varieties of tea (not including herbal teas), but they
all come from the same plant: Camellia sinensis, which is
grown throughout Asia. The difference in tastes depends on
the soil, climate and elevation at which the tea is grown.
After the tea is processed, the leaves are then known as black
tea. A lot of tea names are related to the area where the
tea is grown: Assam is in Northern India, Ceylon comes from
Sri Lanka, and Darjeeling is in an area at the foothills of
the Himalayas.
Here are some of the varieties of tea you have probably heard
about and wonder what they really are: Darjeeling, Earl Grey,
Ceylon, English Breakfast, China Oolong, Assam, Green Gunpowder,
Lapsan Souchong and Herbal Tea
Tea Accoutrements
In the 1660's, tea was served in handless
cups, poured onto saucers to cool, and then drunk right from
the saucer. It wasn't until over a century later that the
cup had a handle and the saucer had a circular indentation
on the bottom. As the tradition of afternoon tea grew, so
did the number of accessories. Some of the more common items
are cream and milk jugs, sugar and spoon bowls, tea
caddies, teapoys (small three-legged tables), silver
tea kettles and an assortment of dishes, plates and teaspoons.
Over the next two hundred years, these items became the necessary
equippage for Victorian and Edwardian tea parties.
It wasn't until the mid-1700's that ceramic tea sets were
made in Britain. Thomas Whieldon and Josiah Wedgewood became
famous for their salt-glazed stoneware. The
most popular were molded teapots in shapes
such as vegetables and fruits, in strong yellows and greens,
or with marble or agate effects. Factories in such cities
as Chelsea, Bristol and Derby started making tea sets in soft-paste
porcelain. However, none of this stoneware could equal the
Chinese hard-paste porcelain.
In Staffordshire in the 1790's, Josiah Spode developed bone
china. This was the first material made by the British
that could equal those from the Chinese.
As the popularity of tea grew, the teapots, dishes, etc.,
began appearing in various designs and shapes. The Oriental
influence was evident in patterns such as Blue Willow and
Staffordshire blue and white-ware. The Europeans
eventually came up with their own motifs to reflect the times:
rococo, art nouveau and art deco. Teapots came in a variety
of shapes: round, oval, hexagonal, tall and straight, short
and bulbous. Some fads in
teapots were ones in the shapes of human figures, animals,
houses and other objects.
Top |
| Glossary |
Accoutrements:
equipos, pertrechos
Handless: sin asa
Indentation: hendidura, muesca
Tea caddies: carritos
Salt-glazed stoneware: porcelana Wedgewood
Molded: moldeados
Shapes: formas
Bone china: porcelana translúcida
Blue and white ware: porcelana blanca y azul
Bulbous: bulboso
Fads: modas
Top |
|
|
