Mouthing OffAfternoon tea is a phoney, anachronistic sham. It’s time to abolish it
Invented by a Victorian duchess, afternoon tea – don’t confuse it with high tea – is a fixture of Hong Kong menus, but it’s just a marketing gimmick whose time is past, Andrew Sun argues
Not all traditions and practices need to be preserved and continued. We don’t cure the sick with blood-letting now, women are no longer drowned to determine if they are witches, and it’s right that shark fin soup isn’t cool any more.
Another habit that can go to the dustbin? Afternoon tea.
In this day and age, it’s essentially a meaningless sham, an anachronistic ritual that continues under pretence.
The custom has been appropriated by many places – including fast food shops – to market a cheaper afternoon meal, but it somehow gets to keep its high-class association.
This English habit started in the mid-19th century. Anna, Duchess of Bedford, used to get very hungry while waiting for the evening meal to start, which was after 8pm. To keep her hunger pangs at bay, she requested a tray of cakes, sandwiches and tea brought to her room late in the afternoon.
When she started inviting lady friends to join her, these little tea breaks became fashionable events. By the late 1880s, aristocratic society women took to dressing up for these gatherings. Thus, began the Victorian fad to gather and nibble on light dainty morsels while drinking English tea.