What exactly is "tea"? I've heard it's a late afternoon meal. Do you eat four meals a day (Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, and Dinner) or is Tea your version of Dinner? Do you actually drink tea with this meal, or is that a custom that died out? What kinds of things do you eat for tea? Hamburgers and fries? Or is it something lighter?
2006-09-25 08:26:17 · 11 answers · asked by brevejunkie 7 in Food & Drink ➔ Other - Food & Drink
This is a difficult one! Tea is still drunk by many people in England- myself included. The word tea is also used by some people to denote the evening meal. People who use the word in that way usually eat quite early (about 5pm.) In the south we have breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the north they tend to call it breakfast, dinner and tea. That's how I understand it anyway. I may be wrong.
2006-09-25 08:30:15 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I was born in Scotland and they are big tea drinkers and in the late afternoon (4-5pm) it was tea time, and biscuits or scones, and dinner was about 6:30-7:00pm. We did not drink tea with all meals , except breakfast, with usually fresh baked rolls and jam. The other meals with regular drinks such as soda, or milk, juices etc.. I just came back from Africa and they are huge tea drinkers. There are beautiful little tea places everywhere. Even at the nursery, going to buy plants they have tea houses in side. You can sit down and have a cup of tea and something to eat. We would be way out in no where land , but there was a tea house out there to. I loved it, and they were beautiful , with wonderful food and service. I wish we had something like that here in California.
2006-09-25 08:42:42 · answer #2 · answered by perrisgal 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At between 3-4 in the afternoon as the English and Europeans tend to eat later, 7-8 pm they have a light meal called "tea".
It consists of small sandwiches, scones, pastrys and finger food, jams, devon cream served with a variety of teas, or some times coffee, in the hotels I worked in Canada we had it served in the lobby, but in Britain, most people are still at work, but like North Americans and there coffee breaks, every one generally gets a "Teabreak" to enjoy a cuppa and a snack.
It has been that way since Victorian times when the average worker went to work in the early morning, worked 12 hours or more, they needed a mid afternoon pick up, and since the explorers brought tea back from India and China, what better excuse to stop and have a nosh.
2006-09-25 08:35:52 · answer #3 · answered by The Unknown Chef 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The English ceremony of Afternoon Tea dates back to the 1840s but rather than being 'invented', it actually evolved out of the rituals and routines that had surrounded tea drinking in Britain before that time.
The English started drinking tea in the late 1650s and as both the brewed beverage and the dry loose leaves were extremely expensive, it immediately became the drink of the royal family and the aristocracy. Wealthy gentlemen drank their tea in London's coffee houses and upper class ladies bought very small amounts of loose leaf tea and drank the brew at home with their friends and family.
2006-09-25 08:36:28 · answer #4 · answered by bigbore454 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My partner's British, when we were visiting his family outside of Nottingham they had breakfast at 7 or some ungodly hour, a big meal at 5 or so, and 'tea' at around 9PM, which usually consisted of two pieces of cheese on toast, a sugared something-or other(like a piece of chocolate or something) and actual tea. Basically a snack before bed.
2006-09-25 08:38:50 · answer #5 · answered by Roadpizza 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
this should clarify everything:
Breakfast = Breakfast
Lunch = Dinner
Dinner = Tea
and "Tea" (the meal) may or may not involve "Tea" (the beverage), tends to be a lighter meal than the evening meal Americans call "Dinner", but that is not always the case, it's up to individual preference.
2006-09-25 08:34:36 · answer #6 · answered by Nick F 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
long time ago they drank tea and biscuits then snack or sandwich now tea and dinner are the same thing nearly basically it some junk food like pizza or chips or beans on toast its something like that anyway u should see how the spainsh eat
2006-09-25 08:35:04 · answer #7 · answered by maya 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tea is our main meal of the day, most people have it when they get home from work and can consist of anything from chips (fries to you), mashed potatoes, pies, salads...anything really, and yes afterwards most people will have a cup of tea and relax...OK.
2006-09-25 08:40:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tea is another name for dinner.
I am Australian and half of australian population also call it tea not dinner I am a dinner person myself
2006-09-25 08:35:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They eat it with cucumber sandwiches
2006-09-25 08:37:48 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋