下午茶

下午茶是餐饮方式之一，用餐时间介乎午餐和晚餐之间，下午茶并不是正餐。有些人认为是奢侈的行为，有钱人才会用餐。近代的下午茶发展自英国维多利亚时代的英式下午茶（low tea）。现代人为High tea。

发展历史

一种流行的传说认为，在1840年代中期一位英国上流社会的女士：贝德福德公爵夫人安娜·罗素，在下午时分因百无聊赖，让女仆准备了少量的吐司、奶油和红茶。这种简便的饮食方式很快就成为了英国贵族们打发下午时光的一种绝佳方式。

饮食文化

广东

广州的茶楼和酒楼通常的下午茶是在2点或2:30左右开始，至晚饭之前结束。

香港

香港大部份餐厅把下午二时半至五时半称为“下午茶时间”。大部分快餐店、西餐厅和茶餐厅都会提供分量较午餐少的餐点，价格也较午餐便宜^[1]。香港大部分酒楼会在这段时间提供特价优惠，下午茶时间供应的点心或粉面一般都相较午饭和晚饭时间便宜。

香港的建筑业、装修业和部分写字楼会有称为“三点三”（下午3时15分）的下午茶时间，然而只是习惯上的休息时间，并不是每天都会用餐。

英国

英国人喝下午茶的方式不尽相仿，由高贵的正式茶聚（tea party），到可以不喝茶只吃点心的餐饮（afternoon tea），都可以称为下午茶。

时下的英式下午茶一般在下午三点半到五点进行。英式下午茶的专用红茶为产自印度的大吉岭红茶、斯里兰卡的锡兰高地红茶、伯爵茶。除此之外英国也有在下午茶时喝奶茶的习惯。随茶而来的还有切成薄片的柠檬及奶罐。

然而喝茶并不是主要的环节，品尝蛋糕、三明治等各种点心，反而成了最重要的部分。正式的下午茶点心一般被叠成“三层架”（Three-Tier Petit Four Stand）的形式：第一层（底层）放置各种口味的三明治（tea sandwich），第二层（中间层）是英国的传统点心司康饼（scone），第三层（最上层）则是小蛋糕和水果塔。这个三层架点心应从下往上、由咸至甜、由淡到浓地吃。除了这种必不可少的三层点心，一些牛角面包、葡萄干、鱼子酱等食品也会摆上来，来迎合宾客的口味。

德国

在德国，下午茶被称为Kaffee（咖啡）

欧洲其馀各地

随著英国在19世纪末的强盛，下午茶文化从英国本土带入欧洲和它当时的殖民地。成为一种世界性的流行文化标志之一。几乎在每一家西式餐厅，下午都会供应下午茶餐点。

新西兰

在纽西兰，他们的 Tea time （下午茶时间）习惯在早上而非下午，所以他们把“小息”称作“Morning tea time”。

各地称呼

香港

下午茶业在推广的时候有了不同的品尝方式与名称，如英国下午茶又被香港人习惯称作High tea，但两者其实并不相同（见下）^[2]，更彰显了下午茶文化在世界中的广泛影响。

傍晚茶

工人阶级在下午五至七时的餐饮在英国被称为High tea^[3]^[4]，通常由热菜、糕点、面包、黄油、果酱组成，有时会出现如火腿沙拉之类的肉类冷盘。High tea这一说法在1825年左右即已出现，其中high表示时间更靠后^[5]，而high tea指代的傍晚茶餐时间比下午茶更晚。这一说法在英国工人及英格兰北部及苏格兰方言中显著流行。^[6]^[7]

下午茶图集

法式多士
茶餐厅吃到的经典下午茶食品包括（左起）火腿通心粉、蛋挞和菠萝油
港式快餐店吃到的港式下午茶有西多士、鸡髀和红豆冰

注释

^ 英式下午茶知多少（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆），文汇报，23-10-2013
^ After VS High. [2007-11-25]. （原始内容存档于2004-08-03）.
^ Tea Customs. UK: Tea Council. [21 November 2012]. （原始内容存档于2020-11-07）.
^ What is the Difference Between Afternoon Tea and High Tea?. British food. About. [21 November 2012]. （原始内容存档于2017-02-02）.
^ English Dictionary 2nd, Oxford .
^ Bender, David A. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition 3rd. Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-923487-5. An afternoon meal; may consist of a light meal (especially in southern Britain), or be a substantial meal (high tea) as in northern Britain; introduced by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, in 1840 because of the long interval between a light luncheon and dinner at 8pm.
^ Ayto, John. The Diner’s Dictionary 2nd. Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-964024-9. Tea seems first to have established for itself a particular niche in the day in the 1740s, by which time it had become the fashionable breakfast drink. It was also drunk after dinner, and as the usual time for dinner progressed during the eighteenth century towards the evening a gap opened up for a late-afternoon refreshment, filled by what has since become the traditional English afternoon tea, a meal in its own right, with sandwiches and cake as well as cups of tea (amongst the earliest references to it are these by Fanny Burney in Evelina, 1778 : ‘I was relieved by a summons to tea,’ and by John Wesley in 1789: ‘At breakfast and at tea… I met all the Society’; Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford (1783–1857), famously claimed to have originated the fashion, but as can be seen, it was around well before she was in a position to have any influence over it). In various other parts of the English-speaking world, teatime has assumed other connotations: in Jamaica, for instance, it is the first meal of the day, while for Australians and New Zealanders it is a cooked evening meal—a usage reflected in the tea, and more specifically the ‘high tea’, of certain British dialects, predominantly those of the working class and of the North (the term high tea dates from the early nineteenth century).

外部链接

下午茶坊：英国皇家茶道-英式下午茶
享受英式下午茶
施威全：带血的英式下午茶（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
【视频】李艾主持：英国人与茶文化（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆） - 《伦敦下午茶（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）》 2012-08-01
古典玫瑰园：正统英式下午茶（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）

[wenweipo-1-1] 英式下午茶知多少（页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆），文汇报，23-10-2013

[2] After VS High. [2007-11-25]. （原始内容存档于2004-08-03）.

[3] Tea Customs. UK: Tea Council. [21 November 2012]. （原始内容存档于2020-11-07）.

[4] What is the Difference Between Afternoon Tea and High Tea?. British food. About. [21 November 2012]. （原始内容存档于2017-02-02）.

[5] English Dictionary 2nd, Oxford .

[6] Bender, David A. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition 3rd. Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-923487-5. An afternoon meal; may consist of a light meal (especially in southern Britain), or be a substantial meal (high tea) as in northern Britain; introduced by Anna, Duchess of Bedford, in 1840 because of the long interval between a light luncheon and dinner at 8pm.

[7] Ayto, John. The Diner’s Dictionary 2nd. Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-964024-9. Tea seems first to have established for itself a particular niche in the day in the 1740s, by which time it had become the fashionable breakfast drink. It was also drunk after dinner, and as the usual time for dinner progressed during the eighteenth century towards the evening a gap opened up for a late-afternoon refreshment, filled by what has since become the traditional English afternoon tea, a meal in its own right, with sandwiches and cake as well as cups of tea (amongst the earliest references to it are these by Fanny Burney in Evelina, 1778 : ‘I was relieved by a summons to tea,’ and by John Wesley in 1789: ‘At breakfast and at tea… I met all the Society’; Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford (1783–1857), famously claimed to have originated the fashion, but as can be seen, it was around well before she was in a position to have any influence over it). In various other parts of the English-speaking world, teatime has assumed other connotations: in Jamaica, for instance, it is the first meal of the day, while for Australians and New Zealanders it is a cooked evening meal—a usage reflected in the tea, and more specifically the ‘high tea’, of certain British dialects, predominantly those of the working class and of the North (the term high tea dates from the early nineteenth century).

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