The Fife-o-Clock tradition or English afternoon tea. Tea party or ceremony “Five o’clock Tea” What is five o clock

Recently, on December 15, the world celebrated International Tea Day... I somehow missed this extremely lovely event - but tea is my favorite drink and therefore today I invite you, my dear friends, to a tea party.

A little history or tea in English.

The fashion for tea drinking in Britain was introduced by the wife of King Charles II, Catherine of Braganza. At first, only those close to the reigning person drank the aromatic drink from thin porcelain cups. By the way, in order not to damage the exquisite porcelain, milk at room temperature was first poured into the cup, and then hot tea.

Soon not a single meeting of aristocrats could take place without him. It was served in the vast gardens of wealthy estates, often to the accompaniment of small orchestras. It is known that Mozart and Handel appeared at such tea parties.

But tea alone, even with milk, will not fill you up. And in England we ate only two meals a day. It was one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting, Duchess Anne of Bedford, who came up with a five-hour “snack” - tea with sandwiches.

And so as not to eat alone, she invited friends. The tables were covered with starched snow-white tablecloths, and expensive English porcelain and silver cutlery were displayed on them. Gentlemen wore suits with butterflies for tea, and ladies wore elegant outfits and luxurious hats.

This is how the famous “five-o-clock” was born - not only a way to satisfy hunger, but also a reason for communication and pleasant conversation.

A little about tea drinking, or rather, about etiquette.

Much attention was paid to conversation during tea drinking. Here the laws and rules were unshakable, as in matters of serving.

Conversation is a key component of the English tea ceremony, and it could not be left to chance. Special recommendations were given to housewives in those cases when the conversation would go in the wrong direction.

Interestingly, one of the authors of a book on etiquette even recommends creating a kind of “conversation menu” and placing them near the guests’ plates. This will allow you to maintain the correct conversation in case of a prolonged pause or the wrong direction of the conversation.

Today all this seems funny and naive, but the main thing is that behind this lies the most important function of tea drinking, as a part of social life, an indispensable component of the art of communication.

One more thing about etiquette.

It is customary to hold the cup with three fingers: thumb, index and middle, and the ring and little fingers are pressed to the middle of the palm. If you drink tea while sitting at the table, only take the cup off the table. If tea drinking takes place when guests are sitting in an armchair or on a sofa, then the cup and saucer are held at chest level.

The main secret of English tea drinking is very simple and lies in the fact that tea should be brewed on the basis that it will no longer be diluted with boiling water in the cups. There are no standards for the amount of tea, but the recommended amount is 1 teaspoon of tea leaves per person plus a spoon in a teapot designed for 5-6 people. The tea is infused for 3-5 minutes and poured into cups.

To control time, some families use an hourglass, which adds even more solemnity and ritual to the whole process.

The secret of British longevity lies in

centuries-old traditions of English tea drinking. Tea in

England - more than tea. Drinking traditions

observed by both the Queen and ordinary British people. In the book "How

"be British" Hungarian journalist George Mikes

advised: “You should never give up a cup

tea under the following circumstances:

 if it’s hot outside;

 if it’s cold outside;

 if you are tired;

 if someone thinks you are tired;

 if you feel uneasy;

 before leaving the house;

 if you are not at home;

 if you have just arrived home;

 if you want some tea;

 if you don’t really want some tea, but you could;

 if you haven’t drunk tea for a long time; if you only

that they intercepted the cup.”

By the way, it was the British who came up with the modern design of cups. According to their idea, in China they attached a handle to an ordinary bowl. And they also became the inventors of saucers, which were needed to prevent tea from dripping onto white tablecloths.

"Five o'clock Tea" preparation ceremony.

A small tea table is covered with a white tablecloth, and it should look solemn, for which the edges of the tablecloth should hang as low as possible. Suitable napkins are selected for the tablecloth, which are in harmony with it in color or texture of the fabric. For decoration, you can place a vase with fresh flowers in the center of the table, preferably also light in color.

All utensils used for English tea drinking must be from the same set. A traditional set includes a large number of items: cups and saucers, a milk jug, cups for jam or jam, a sugar bowl, a teapot, snack plates, teaspoons, a tray for spoons, a kettle for boiling water, etc. You also need tongs for lump sugar, a strainer and coasters for hot dishes.

According to long-standing traditions, it is necessary to offer guests more than 5 types of tea to choose from. When everyone has decided on the variety, each type of tea is brewed in a separate teapot at the rate of one spoon of tea leaves for each cup plus one more for the teapot. Next, the drink is infused for about 3-5 minutes, then poured through a strainer into cups.

By the way, tea with lemon in England is called “Russian” tea.

And in general it is believed that in modern Europe, the further west, the milkier it is, and the easterly, the more lemony.

Fife-o-clock

(English) - the custom of holding a meeting before lunch

Wed. It’s not enough for them... to pour from empty to empty during lunch and evenings; no - they’ve now come up with the idea of getting ready at four o’clock and drinking tea... Five o’clock! It’s very proper to make English faces!

Grigorovich. My uncle Bandurin.

Wed. She values not an honest man, not a good servant of the motherland, but a person, having finally won her for her five o'clock...

Boborykin. At home. 4.

Wed. Five o'clock - five o'clock.

Russian thought and speech. Yours and someone else's. Experience of Russian phraseology. Collection of figurative words and parables. T.T. 1-2. Walking and apt words. A collection of Russian and foreign quotes, proverbs, sayings, proverbial expressions and individual words. St. Petersburg, type. Ak. Sci.. M. I. Mikhelson. 1896-1912.

Synonyms:

See what “fife-o-clock” is in other dictionaries:

- (English, five o’clock five hours). The English have a tea party. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. FIFE O KLOK [English. five o'clock (tea) lit. five o'clock] in England and the USA: drinking tea between lunch (LEUNCH) and dinner... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Tea ceremony, tea, tea drinking, tea drinking, tea drinking, tea drinking Dictionary of Russian synonyms. fife o klok noun, number of synonyms: 6 tea (6) ... Synonym dictionary

Fife o cloka, fife o cloka... Spelling dictionary-reference book

fife-o-clock- fife about clo/k, fife about clo/ka... Together. Apart. Hyphenated.

M. Drinking tea between lunch (second, heavier breakfast) and lunch; five o'clock tea (in the UK and some English-speaking countries). Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

fife-o-clock- fife o kl ok, and... Russian spelling dictionary

fife-o-clock- fife/ o/ klok/ … Morphemic-spelling dictionary

fife-o-clock- (2 m), R. fife o clo/ka ... Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

Fife o'clock (English) the custom of holding a meeting before lunch. Wed. It’s not enough for them... to pour from empty to empty during lunch and evenings; no, they’ve now decided to get ready at four o’clock and drink tea... Five o’clock! Englishman squirm... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Books

Fife-o-klok, Groshek Jiri. This book has a little bit of everything: former lives, sins, self-irony, and literary tricks with exposure. And most importantly, "Fife-o-clock" is a really funny collection consisting of a novel" ...
A light breakfast in the shadow of the necropolis, Groshek I.. The first part of Jiri Groshek's trilogy, including "A light breakfast in the shadow of the necropolis" - "The Great Restoration of Lunch" - "Fife-o-klok". First published in 2001 as a novel" by a Czech writer and...

What is tea drinking in English? This is the constant tea with milk, a tea set made of fine porcelain, small cakes, white starched tablecloths, cozy armchairs and leisurely conversation. This is “Five o’clock Tea”...

The tradition of pampering yourself with a cup of aromatic tea has appeared among the British since time immemorial, namely in 1662, merchants of the East India Company presented King Charles II with two pounds of dried Indian tea leaves as a wedding gift.

Portrait of Catherine of Braganza by Sir Peter Lely, 1665

The gift was truly royal, as it was subject to an astronomical import duty. The newly-made wife of the monarch, Catherine of Braganza, declared tea an official palace drink and ordered it to be served in thin porcelain cups. The royal servants, terribly afraid of breaking the exquisite dishes with boiling tea, first poured milk into delicate cups, and then the hot drink. This is where this famous British tradition came from - first of all, pour warm milk into cups, and then pour aromatic tea through a strainer.

English way of brewing tea

Pour tea leaves into a heated dry teapot at the rate of 1 teaspoon per cup of water plus 1 teaspoon per teapot. The kettle is immediately filled with boiling water (twice) and left for 5 minutes. At this time, warm (but not boiled) milk is poured into well-heated cups - 2 - 3 tablespoons (to taste), and then tea is poured through a strainer.

A required ingredient for “5 o’clock tea” is milk

It is worth noting that at present, true connoisseurs of English tea have scattered into different camps and are engaged in heated debates over what to pour into the cup initially - milk or tea? Proponents of “tea first” argue that by adding milk to a drink, you can adjust its taste and color, otherwise the aroma of tea is “lost.”

Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford in 1820

But the “milk first” group is convinced that when warm milk interacts with hot tea, an excellent taste is obtained, and the milk also acquires a touch of the most delicate baked delicacy. However, “tastes differ” (there is no arguing about tastes)! Which one is right is up to you to decide! But one thing is for sure: if you mix milk with tea in one cup and tea with milk in another, you will get two completely different tasting drinks.

The tradition of “5 o’clock tea” appeared thanks to the Duchess of Bedford

The tradition of Five o'clock Tea began in 1840 thanks to Anne Russell, Duchess of Bedford. One day, wandering around her castle, taking a break from lunch and preparing for dinner, in order to somehow kill time, she ordered her maid to bring tea-making equipment into her salon. Next time, to combine business with pleasure, the Duchess invited her friends to afternoon tea. Everyone liked it so much that the ladies began to gather more and more often - and, in the end, a ritual arose, or rather, the tradition of English tea drinking.

Tea Party in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Illustration by J. Tenniel for the first edition of the tale, 1865

There is also a version that the fashion for “Five o’clock Tea” was introduced by Queen Anne, who decided to somehow fill the pause between early lunch and late dinner. It must be said that at that time in Britain everyone looked at the ruler’s mouth, repeating after her everything that was considered “fashionably”, including the “five o’clock tea” ceremony.

Since the 19th century, the tradition of “5 o’clock tea” has turned into a social event

Starting from the end of the 19th century, the tradition of “Five o'clock Tea” turned into a social event: gentlemen put on suits with butterflies, ladies put on the most elegant outfits, luxurious hats, pulled on gloves and went to have tea in the restaurants of luxury hotels, where specially for them the tables were set with starched snow-white tablecloths, on which there was expensive English porcelain with silver cutlery.

Five o'clock tea in England

Tea treats were served on multi-tiered shelves, where the choice was a variety of muffins, cookies, cakes, traditional English scones with thick Devonshire cream and homemade jams, delicious round pancakes with butter and honey.

The “5 o’clock tea” tradition provides a number of attributes

Today, along with these dishes, at English tea ceremonies you can see cheesecake, carrot and nut cakes, triangular sandwiches with various fillings.

And although such a ritual of today's tea drinking, in keeping with the traditions of the English aristocracy, is not cheap and is carried out only in the most expensive hotels and restaurants of Foggy Albion, sometimes you have to book it many months in advance!

Elizabeth II having a cup of traditional “five o’clock tea”

And finally, it is worth noting one interesting detail: according to the lunar cycle, between 17:00 and 19:00 the kidneys and bladder are in an active phase, which means that drinking tea or any other liquid helps eliminate toxic substances from the body. So those Englishmen who adhere to the “Five o’clock Tea” tradition are right!

Today is the birthday of Elizabeth II.

The Queen does not like luxury or excess.

For example, she has cornflakes for breakfast and nothing else,

for tea at five o'clock in the evening - a couple of pieces of round bread without crust with jam.

Perhaps, "fife-o-klok tee"- the most popular English tradition in the world. You might be interested to know that modern English afternoon tea comes in two varieties: "short" And "high" or "meat".

The history of afternoon tea begins in France

Tea appeared in Paris in the 17th century and immediately became extremely popular among the aristocracy. In the notes of Madame de Sevigne, tea is mentioned as one of the most fashionable drinks that “cure all ills.” And inIn England, the drink appeared much later. although Queen Elizabeth l (1533-1603) gave permission to the British East India Company to trade tea in the early 17th century. Due to the difficult political situation within the country, trade in it did not begin until the late 1670s.

England influenced tea traditions in European countries, where they first learned to successfully mix different types of tea. For example, the classic English Breakfast is a blend of the strongest Ceylon and Assamese varieties of the highest quality. England also shaped tea etiquette and the appearance of tea utensils. During tea drinking, the table is set with a white disposable tablecloth and napkins, and a vase with a living bouquet.

In 1662, the reign of King Charles II began. He was married to the Portuguese Infanta Catherine de Braganza. Her dowry was the largest ever recorded in world history. Portugal gave England two million gold coins, Tangier and Morocco in North Africa, Bombay in India, and also permission for the British to use all ports in the Portuguese colonies of Africa, Asia and America. This contributed to the flourishing of trade in overseas goods, including tea.

Because Karl grew up on the continent, both he and his Portuguese fiancée loved drinking tea. When the monarchy was restored they brought this foreign custom with them to England. Their habit of drinking tea made it popular among the upper class of society, emulating monarchs. Soon the popularity of tea became such that it replaced beer as the national drink for the aristocracy. During the reign of Charles II the foundations of the British tea trade would be laid. The East India Company received a monopoly on the sale of the popular drink. At the beginning of the 18th century, tea was already served in more than 500 coffee houses in London.

Tea in the 19th century

Before the advent of afternoon tea in Great Britain, the British sat down to the table twice a day, for breakfast and lunch. In the mid-eighteenth century, it became fashionable for the aristocracy and middle classes to serve dinner in the evening. Lunch was a long, hearty meal at the end of the day, but it was hard to get through without a snack. Afternoon tea became a bridge between breakfast and lunch, which began to be served no earlier than 8 pm. According to legend, in the mid-19th century, one lady-in-waiting, Anne Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford, began inviting friends to tea at five o'clock in her chambers at Belvoir Castle. Tea was served with small cakes, sandwiches with bread and butter, and sweets. This custom became very popular among the aristocracy, and then spread throughout England. Soon afternoon tea became a small meal in itself.

Tea at the beginning of the 20th century

This meal schedule was suitable for the upper classes, but not for working people. A tired factory worker would come home after work well after five o'clock and very hungry. Therefore, in the industrial areas of Great Britain (northern England and southern Scotland), the so-called early dinner with tea appeared. Meat, bread, butter, vegetables, cheese and of course tea were served on the table. And, since this dinner was eaten at a high dining table, and not a low tea table, it was called “high” tea.

Sandwiches for tea

Thus, while afternoon tea served as a meeting place for the upper class, high tea was a necessity for the working class. This traditional high tea still exists in parts of the North of England and Scotland.

Soon the upper class added “early tea” to their daily routine. This type of dinner could be easily prepared, so it became a practice when the servants were absent for any reason. The "high tea" of the nobility consisted of the usual menu of afternoon tea and, in addition, cold meats, smoked salmon and fruit.

Most people call afternoon tea "high tea"High Tea, because they think it sounds noble, almost royal.

In fact, high tea, orMeat Tea"meat tea" is lunch.

Afternoon tea, usually served during the day, is calledLow Teabecause they drank it in the living room, where near the sofas and armchairs there were low, almost like modern coffee tables.

There are three main types of tea in Fife o'clock (Afternoon Tea or Low Tea):

Cream Tea— Tea, buns, jam and cream

Light Tea Light Tea— Tea, buns and sweets

Full Tea Full Tea— Tea, sandwiches, buns, sweets and dessert

cream tea

Full tea

In England the traditional tea time was from four or five o'clock to seven. Today, most tea shops serve tea from three to five o'clock. The menu has also changed. In addition to tea, bread, butter and pies, the order includes:

Savory snacks Savories- tiny sandwiches or snacks;

Buns Scones— served with jam and Devonshire or clotted cream;

Cookies Pastries- pies, cookies, shortbread and sweets.

The number of tea varieties offered in the cafe is very large. But they almost always include such popular teas as:

Assam Assam: A strong, rich Indian tea with a “malty” aroma.

Darjeeling An aromatic, slightly astringent Indian tea with a hint of almonds and wildflowers.

Earl Gray tea Earl Gray A blend of several varieties of black tea with bergamot, named after Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Minister from 1830-1834.

Lapsang Souchong Lapsang Souchong Chinese tea with a striking aroma of pine smoke.

A survey was recently conducted in England to determine the nation's favorite afternoon tea sandwich.

First place went not to the traditional cucumber sandwich, but to smoked salmon and cream cheese on grain bread.

The British's favorite sandwiches

Tea etiquette in English

Many tourists coming to England want to take part in a real traditional “Fife o Clock” tea party. Demand creates supply, and now almost every hotel, restaurant or cafe offers visitors a completely authentic ceremony. We’ll talk about which of them are really worth visiting in the next article. Now, let’s briefly go over the basic rules of English tea etiquette. Of course, you know them, this is just in case.

-The cup is lifted from the saucer only to take a sip, and not kept suspended all the time.

- Do not put your little finger far away, keep it close to the other fingers near the handle of the cup.

- The tea is stirred with a spoon not in a circle, but from bottom to top. Immediately after use, the spoon is placed on the saucer on the right or on a special plate.

- The tea bag is not squeezed out, but immediately placed on a saucer.

What to pour first: tea or milk? There is no consensus among the British on this matter. Once upon a time, because porcelain was of lower quality, it would crack if water was too hot. This led to milk being poured first and then hot tea. Now this problem is gone, you can pour tea of the strength that suits you, and then add milk or cream.

Lemon is served on a separate plate with a special lemon fork. A slice of lemon can float in a cup of tea. According to tradition, a clove should be stuck in the center of a lemon slice.

Before putting lemon and then sugar into the cup (in that order!), the cup should be turned 180 degrees so that the handle is on the left.

Now you can put a slice of lemon in a cup and squeeze the juice out of it. To do this, use the back of a teaspoon to “pull” it to the near wall of the cup and squeeze it out, firmly holding the handle of the cup with your left hand. The squeezed lemon must be removed from the cup and placed on a saucer.

Mix the sugar in a cup with a personal teaspoon, trying to do it silently. Drinking tea with a spoon left in the cup is considered bad manners. Therefore, after stirring the sugar, it should be removed from the cup and placed on a saucer. Before you start drinking, turn the cup again so that the handle is on the right.

Sugar is served in the form of pieces. Be sure to use tongs to place it in the cup. Sugar used to be served in a cone shape, reminiscent of a witch's hat, and broken off with tongs. The tradition of using tongs for sugar remains, although it has already been made into pieces.

According to the rules of table decoration, the napkin should lie to the left of the device. After lunch is over, she is also left on the left.

Buns, scones eaten just like regular bread. Place on a separate plate, pinch off a piece, which is then spread with butter or jam using a knife. The fork is not used.

A small knife and fork is used to open an open sandwich or cookie.

And most importantly: the best etiquette is to relax and have a good time without noticing the mistakes of others! http://www.studing.od.ua

Well, we are armed with a theory, and for the continuation of where it is best to have afternoon tea in London, see the next post. @Milendia

FIFE-O-CLOCK

Drinking tea between lunch (second, heavier breakfast) and lunch; five o'clock tea (in the UK and some English-speaking countries).

Large modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. 2012

See what “fife-o-clock” is in other dictionaries:

Books

Tea etiquette in English

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what FIF-O-KLOK is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books: