International Flavours Devonshire Tea

By Benjamin Long
What is Devonshire Tea and what is it referred to? A Devonshire Tea or also referred too as Cornish Cream Tea is a tea taken always with a combination of scones, clotted cream and jam. Devonshire tea was

a light meal served at 10:00 am for morning tea and 3:00 pm as an afternoon tea. Devonshire tea after being around for sometime then moved on the creating another meal known as high tea. The food associated with this after noon meal served at 6:00 pm for the upper class as known to them as high dining consisted of many manners of meats, bread, butter, pickles, cheese and tea. None of those dainty finger sandwiches, scones and pastries of afternoon non tea would not be considered appropriate for that high class menu. What other food items are served at Devonshire Tea? The most used way of having Devonshire Tea is served with jam and cream in a twin pot. With the scones there is usually just one plain scone and the other is sultana. Then there is real leaf tea served in a small teapot. The more upper class would have it by inviting there friends, having small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and of course tea. Afterwards a walking in the fields catching up on gossip and commenting on how great the weather is. This became very popular in the summer time and other upper class people were quick to follow and it became a traditional thing ever since.

Where does its name come from? The name Devonshire Tea comes from the county of Devon in the 11th centaury, which is located in England. Anna the Duchess of Bedford was the original creditor to inventing Devonshire tea or as she like to refer to as

afternoon tea. The Duchess of Bedford always felt as she was growing up that the noon meal had become skimpier, so then the Duchess suffered from a sinking feeling of feeling peckish at about four oclock in the afternoon to have tea. This is how Devonshire tea came to be around. What is clotted Cream? Clotted cream is a silky, yellow cream that has a distinctive crust left on the surface. In about 500 BC Clotted cream came to Cornwall. In the 1920s, Frances Rodda developed a clever technique for preserving clotted cream in glass jars. This means it can be transported all the way to London for the first time. By the 1930s, orders were more than well on the way. Cornish clotted cream more than popular in southern England for the upper class so they had to buy some more primus stoves and despite them note having running water or electricity, a small industry was on the way for many years. In 1939 the Second World War bean and the productions stopped because of rationing and the war effort that was involved. In 1953 the clotted cream business were able to permit production again, under certain time that they were able to make it. Then came to the year of 1981 were Charles and Diana, Duke and Duchess of Cornwall enjoyed clotted cream as part of their wedding breakfast. This sent the industry to go skyrocketing and massive profit gain. Describe what a tea sandwich is and what are some of the fillings used to make tea sandwiches? A tea sandwich is a special type of light sandwich commonly served during afternoon tea and as a snack. Numerous teahouses in Britain offer tea

sandwiches, and establishments serving British styled teas around the world also usually have several varieties on the menu. When prepared well, a tea sandwich is light and flavourful, with an even texture that lacks sogginess or lumps of ingredients. A tea sandwich is also crust less: cooks cut the crust of the bread after the sandwich is assembled, so that the ingredients run all the way of the edge of the sandwich Traditional tea sandwiches are made by cutting a single sandwich into triangular pieces. Other fillings of a tea sandwich might be things like deviled eggs, curry chicken, peppery cheese, ham and cheese, smoked salmon, liver paste, and seafood mixture. What are cucumber sandwiches and why are cucumber sandwiches associated with the upper classes of the United Kingdom? The traditional cucumber sandwich is composed of paper-thin slices of cucumber placed between two thin slices of crustless, lightly buttered white bread. Cucumber sandwiches contain little protein and so are generally not considered sustaining enough to take place as a full meal. This is deliberate to show they can afford to have it while the lower class cant as to them it is a delicacy as it is not a full meal. Cucumber sandwiches have historically been associated with the Victorian era upper classes of the United Kingdom; sandwiches
formed an integral part of the stereotypical afternoon tea affair. So by contrast, people of the eras lower working classes were thought to prefer a coarser but more satisfying protein-filled sandwich, in a meat tea that might substitute for supper.