ORIGINS OF AFTERNOON TEA: INTERVIEW WITH GILLIAN WALNES PERRY MBE

It's no secret that we love afternoon tea here at Experience Days. In fact, we're so obsessed with finding the perfect afternoon tea, we've even made our own exhaustive Brighton Afternoon Tea Guide. But what about those who are so interested in afternoon tea that they make it part of their job to educate others about this unique meal? That's what we've found in Gillian Walnes Perry MBE, who tours the country with her unique historic talks - one of which is about the history, origins and etiquette surrounding that very British pastime of afternoon tea. She took time to answer some of our questions about what she does, and why the practice of afternoon tea is still relevant today. 

Cake as a career? Wow, that sounds just up my street. I started to lecture on ‘The Social History of English Afternoon Tea’ in 2017, when I was taken on by a cruise company as one of their onboard enrichment speakers.  Although my main sphere of expertise is the life and legacy of Anne Frank (I ran the Anne Frank Trust UK for many years), I was asked to expand my portfolio of talks for the ships.

I thought about some of the things I am passionate and curious about, and top of the list was afternoon tea. Why not turn this into a talk? The more I researched, the more I was fascinated by how tea drinking and eating this delicious meal in the afternoon had evolved. 

One of the first talks I did was to a group of 20 elderly Holocaust survivors. I was asked by the Holocaust Survivors Centre in London if I could do this as a treat for their members.  So, we all boarded a minibus in North London and were taken to the delightful Hanbury Manor Hotel in Hertfordshire.

After the excited and noisy chattering in continental accents had died down, the group listened intently to what I was telling and showing them, as all European Holocaust survivors love to immerse themselves in British culture. They are so grateful for Britain having taken them in after the war, after most of their families had been murdered. 

I have often had heated arguments in the USA, where I also lecture, over the term ‘high tea’. The Americans describe what we could call traditional or classic afternoon tea, or even just cream tea, as ‘High Tea’, as this sounds to them appropriately grand.

I then explain that the term high tea started during the Industrial Revolution, and refers to the meal taken in the early evening by factory or farm workers, domestic servants and children. As this was the main meal of the day it usually included a protein. Even now, if we choose to take high tea in a tearoom, it often contains a protein, such as Welsh Rarebit or poached egg on toast. 

Cultures all around the world have their defining customs centred on food and drink, for example the Japanese tea ceremony, the American diner breakfast and French haute cuisine.  In the Victorian era, afternoon tea was first enjoyed primarily by women, as the men were working and the women at home enjoyed the opportunity to have a gossip together over the tea china.

Towards the end of the 19th century, tea rooms became the first public eating establishments that women felt they could visit without their men, and without risk to their reputations.  Even now, we all have very fond memories of enjoying afternoon tea, our favourite cakes and of the special family occasions around them. 

One thing I have noticed that seems to be peculiar to Britain is the discourse over whether to put the milk in the cup first, followed by the boiling tea, or the tea first and then a dash of milk added to it.

The habit of putting milk in first was for those whose china was not good enough quality to withstand the boiling water without cracking, hence the milk put in first to cool the cup.  Those who could afford better quality china liked to show this off by putting the boiling water in first. 

In the early 20th century this remained a great social divider, with the novelist Evelyn Waugh disdainfully describing someone as ‘He’s rather milk in first’…. According to the great tea purveyors Fortnum & Mason, either way is perfectly correct, with the milk in first method giving the tea a richer and creamier brew.  

A few years ago, the food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond researched the best way of eating a cream tea scone for maximum enjoyment.  He discovered that the ideal ratio of the denseness of the scone, the sweetness of the jam and the richness of the cream was 2:1:1.

So, for the ‘optimum hedonistic breakpoint’ as Dr Farrimond described it, your scone should be 4cm in height, with 2cm each for the cream and jam (or jam then cream, if you prefer the Cornwall rather than the Devon way).  At this point in my talk, which is usually accompanied by afternoon tea, I hold up a tape measure and inform my highly amused audience that I will coming round during tea measuring their scones. 

The other fact that fascinates audiences is how tea came to be commercially cultivated in India. Up to 1840, Britain was importing its tea from China.

But when a few wild tea bushes were discovered by the British colonists in the Indian regions of Darjeeling and Assam, they struck on an idea. The colonists sent Mr Robert Fortune, a botanist from the Chelsea Physic Garden, over to China to steal some of their prized tea plants so they could be cross cultivated with the wild bushes in India.

In order to do this without arousing suspicion, the very European-looking Mr Fortune dressed himself up as a Chinese mandarin from a distant province, who wished to take a few tea bush cuttings back to his own remote Chinese province. The Chinese tea growers believed his story and Mr Fortune was able to smuggle them from China to India. The result was the birth of the Indian tea industry, and henceforth Robert Fortune was known as The Tea Thief. 

Because of my lectures, I get to enjoy a lot of afternoon teas. Sometimes I really enjoy the grandeur of a top city or country house hotel with their crisp white tablecloths and very cosmopolitan clientele, but equally I love a country village tearoom, with a roaring fire blazing in the winter months or a flower bedecked garden in the summer.

One that particularly comes to mind is the Corfe Castle Café in Dorset, whose garden affords a wonderful view of the mysterious ruined castle.   

It certainly has. During the latter part of the 20th century, afternoon tea seemed to become a thing of our fond remembered past, associated with another age.  For younger people, coffee shops, with their infinite choice of ways of enjoying your coffee, comfy armchairs and laid-back American vibe, were springing up on every high street. 

However, since the rise of The Great British Bake Off and similar baking shows, it’s become less guilt laden to enjoy a calorie burst during the afternoon. Popular costume dramas, such as Downton Abbey and more recently, Belgravia (which even featured the Duchess of Bedford, the creator of afternoon tea as we know it,  entertaining guests in mid-afternoon) have brought the delights of the laden tea table back into sharp focus. 

Two trends immediately come to mind, both of which I cover in my talk, as I think they are lovely additions to the afternoon tea culture.  The first is vintage teas, where nostalgia proscribes that the china tea service must be a mix of non-matching cups, saucers and plates. Floral tea dresses for women and navy blazers for men, in both cases often worn with summery straw hats, are the appropriate wear, and often with lively jazz music accompanying the tea.  

The other recent trend is for themed teas, featuring particular calendar dates (e.g. Valentines or Halloween) or marking celebrated annual events such as Wimbledon, London Fashion Week or the Chelsea Flower Show.  There is some wonderful creativity being shown here. 

Thanks for reading, and thank you so much to Gillian for taking the time to talk to us about our favourite meal of the day!

We might be biased, but we happen to think afternoon tea is the ultimate luxurious gift - and a great excuse to eat cake, sandwiches and scones before dinner. 

If you'd like to gift a loved one with a special afternoon out, check out our full range of afternoon tea gift ideas here. If you've any questions, please feel free to leave a comment - we'd love to hear from you!

Gillian Walnes Perry MBE lectures on The Social History of English Afternoon Tea. For the time of lockdown, she has converted the talk into a downloadable talk with recorded narration and images for individuals or a live streamed version for organisations, groups and establishments. Visit www.gillianwalnesperry.com or contact Gillian at gillianwalnesperry@gmail.com for more details.  She is on Twitter as @gillianwalnes1.