Now, listen and learn, son! Tea, is a herb, that has been dried out. So to bring it back to life you have to infuse it, in boiling water. That is BOILING water! Every, everywhere I have been in this country, they slap down a cup of tepid nonsense, you know with the tea bag, lying beside it, which means I have to go through the ridiculous business of dunking it, in the lukewarm piss: waiting for the slightest change of colour, to occur. And at my age, I haven’t got the time!

Says Maggie Smith in the film “The Second Best Marigold Hotel” and I think her thoughts and reaction are perfect reflection of the British nation’s connection to tea. When I was on a team building in Bristol, one of my English colleagues was upset at breakfast because of the temperature of the water and was complaining as he could not have a decent cup of tea. The following day I sent him the link with the above scene and his instant response was: “That’s it! This is what I mean!” (At this point let me remark, although the Hungarian voices and translations are always brilliant, on this occasion Maggie Smith’s sarcasm and frustration did not come through in the Hungarian version.)

There have been several posts about tea, yet I attempt to present interesting and less known facts about it. I promise, you will read and see things that will surprise you.

The “nice cup of tea” is not only one of Britain’s cultural icons, it is an institution. Would you think that Churchill believed the moral of the country and its troops during the Second World War, could be maintained due to tea and it even possibly helped to defeat Germany? By the way, the government secured all stocks of tea when the war broke out and by 1940 tea was rationed, the weekly allowance was 2oz per person. But let’s just not go ahead that fast! There is much more to know about tea, which was the most expensive drink in the 17th century, but has become the cheapest by the 20th.

The way to England

Tea was first imported to Europe by the Dutch and Portuguese around 1610 and it got to England in 1657. (interestingly, coffee got to Europe by the Dutch as well and cocoa by the Spanish, so none of them by the English.) Britain started to import tea in the 1660’s, through the English “East Indian Company” It took 12-16 month for ships to get to England.

Tea was first available in coffee houses which might seem to be odd, but as coffee got to England earlier, it explains why. The first coffeehouse in England opened in Oxford in 1650 and within just 25 years there were ca 3000 coffeehouses in the country. Coffeehouses had male guests only who discussed politics and economy whilst enjoying a cup of coffee, tea, chocolate, wine or brandy.

Interestingly, tea was taxed in a liquid form at the beginning which meant coffeehouses had to brew a batch in the morning and then the tax officer would come around and check it. Then tea would be reheated whenever someone ordered some.

This taxation was changed in 1689 and tea was taxed in leaf format. Coffeehouses soon realised it made sense to sell tea in leaf format as well, which was required by women who were not allowed to socialise in public, but they wanted to enjoy the drink at home, or when they visited each other. Tea was also recommended by doctors against headache, sleepiness and concentration problems.

Tea drinking was expensive and only the wealthy people could afford it at the end of the 17th century. It is said to be down to Charles II’s Spanish wife, Kathrine of Braganza that tea drinking became popular at the English court. However, when the tax of the tea was reduced from the massive 119% to 12.5% in 1784, tea reached other classes of the society and resulted in an increased import. However, before this massive reduction, 5 million pounds weight (lbs)of tea was imported legally and 7 million lbs of tea was smuggled into England – quite how they calculated that, I have got no idea… Anyway, after 1784 tea was enjoyed by many and tea drinking helped to save the nation from the gin craze that caused many problems such as crime and illnesses. Tea drinking became so popular, that some wealthy families even rebuilt their country house to create a tea room and this was the time when tea houses and tea pavilions appear at English estates.

The first merchants and retailers

The first tea shop was opened by Thomas Twining in London in 1717. Twining was famous for his tea blending such as Earl Grey, which however was first invented by the Jacksons of Piccadilly in the 1830s and named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey, (British prime minister between 1830-34) and English Breakfast which interestingly was created in 1933 only. “The London Fog” is a name of a drink made of Earl Grey, steamed milk and vanilla syrup.

Later new retailers appeared on the market such as:

• Hornimans Tea which was founded on the Isle of Wight in 1826 and by 1891 became the worlds biggest tea trading business and produced Friedrich Nietzsche’s  (German philosopher) favourite tea.
• Mazawatte tea
• Lipton which was famous for its blending as well. Thomas Lipton’s slogan was: “The perfect tea to suit the water of your town.“ The famous yellow label was developed in 1890, but today it is sold on the Continent only and in other countries in the world but not in the UK.
• Brooke Bond, a company in Lancashire creating the famous brand PG Tips in 1930.
• Typhoo, a tea company in Birmingham, established in 1903.

Afternoon tea

Afternoon tea probably contributed to the even wider spread of tea drinking and transforming it to a ritual. You may know that it was introduced in the 1840s when Queen Victoria’s friend, Anna Maria Russell, the Duchess of Bedford was hungry between lunch and dinner, which was moved from between 4pm to 5pm in the late 17th century to 7:30pm in the 1840s. She realised that with tea, cakes and sandwiches she could survive until dinner and soon she shared her new habit with friends and the custom was born.

Afternoon tea became such a big ritual that from the 1870s, a so called tea gown became fashionable. This was made of a light fabric to make it more comfortable to wear, yet it was elegant enough to wear it in front of friends and family. The rich enjoyed their afternoon tea at home, the lower classes had their cup of tea in tea rooms.

Tea rooms

It might intrigue you how tea rooms appeared and one would normally think it would be something that developed from the coffeehouses. Well, it did not! At the end of the 19th century, the Aerated Bread Company (ABC) shop in Fenchurch Street in London served tea and snacks to their best customers, which became so successful that the manager lady thought it would be worth opening shops that offer specifically this product range. The management agreed and soon they had 50 tea rooms and more importantly, the concept was so successful that department stores and hotels adopted it, which meant other places were created where women could meet in public.

Tea cups and accessories

The first kettles in England were made of silver around 1670, but porcelain soon became fashionable and the status symbol of the aristocracy. Handle-less porcelain bowls were imported with tea (handles appear in the 1750s only), but porcelain was originally the ballast of the ship. However, when people realised that it was a elegant, translucent, water and heat resistant material, it became so demanded that it was called “white gold”. European potteries competed against each other to discover the method of making porcelain, which the Chinese have been producing for centuries. The so called hard-porcelain was developed in Germany, in Meissen in 1709 and the soft-porcelain in Britain in 1740. This latter one was perfected by Josiah Spode in 1805 by adding bone ash to the recipe. The most famous potteries in Britain were: Wedgewood (1759), Spode (1767), Minton (1793), Royal Doulton (1815).

It goes without saying that for this delicate ritual, other gadgets were needed as well: teapots, jars, kettles, milk jugs, teaspoons, trays, sugar box, tea caddies and even furniture.

One of the most surprising pieces is the tea caddie, which was kept locked so that the servants could not pinch any and its key was tied around the mistress‘ waist.

Perhaps the most bizarre tea gadget is the Teasmaid which is an electric kettle combined with an alarm clock which was launched in 1930 first for tea lovers. It was so popular that they added a built in radio in 1970.

Tea with milk

The British have always liked to have their tea with sugar, but they started to add milk around 1720. You will be surprised to know that the habit of adding milk to the tea originates in France in the 17th century, which was followed by the English. Interestingly this habit is the other way round today.

The famous question: tea or milk first?

There are plenty of articles that support one or the other – I have recently read one which explained according to the Queen’s butler, milk should come first and of course you do believe the Queen’s butler, don’t you? This is a bit like the chicken and the egg situation and as long as the world stands, there will be people supporting one or the other theory. But there is a theory supported by many experts which I find acceptable and logical. They say, cups, mugs and bowls were made of clay before porcelain was introduced. These cups were heavy and did not hold the heat. Therefore, milk had to come first to cool the cup down then the hot water to avoid it cracking. The aristocracy, however, who could afford to use the new heat-resistant porcelain, could pour the hot drink first to the cup and then add the milk. Logical, isn’t it?

Teabag

There are things that have become such a great part of our lives that we do not even think about how they were invented or developed. The teabag is one of them. Interestingly it was invented as a result of a misunderstanding when the tea merchant in New York, Thomas Sullivan prepared tea samples for his clients, which he placed into small silk bags. Some of the clients mistakenly thought this was the way it should be infused, so they used the little silk bags and reported back to Sullivan that the silk was too fine and another material is needed for the purpose. Sullivan soon started to produce gauze tea bags that were ideal for infusing in hot water. The teabag reached England only in 1935 when Tetley started to apply them in their products. I find it rather surprising that by 1968 only 3% of the tea came in teabags but by 2000 it was 90%. As for the different shapes of the teabags, you can find square and rectangular, circle or pyramid shapes. The pyramid is said to have more room for the tea to brew and expand.

~

Having looked at the tea’s history one can really appreciate why the English are so proud and keen on their hot drink. Indeed, there is so much involved in tea drinking, it is not just about the cup of tea. And if anything I learnt in this country, then it is using nothing but hot water when making a cuppa – just like Maggie Smith suggested.

In loving memory of Richard

Death is part of life. Or it should be. When I suddenly and unexpectedly lost my Mum and then my Dad within the same year, I could not handle the situation properly and I found it was almost a taboo to talk about, although not long ago people’s approach to death was much more natural – even in the West.

This post is inspired by the sad fact that Bill’s Dad passed away on 22nd October. It might seem to be bizarre and odd to write about an English funeral, but I thought as we both lost our fathers in the same year and had to attend two funerals, why couldn’t I explain the differences on this blog. Funerals are equally part of a nation’s culture, which can be interesting and can help to understand a nation even more.

Although funerals appear in many English films like, Three Wedding and a Funeral, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’ Baby, Poirot films etc, funerals are different in reality, even if no funerals are the same. Here, I am only able to explain and refer to the one I attended the other week.

A quick summary about Hungarian funerals

In Hungary, whether it is a cremation or a burial, the earthly remains of the dead are displayed in the funeral home at the cemetery, which is nicely decorated with flowers and a framed photo of the individual is put on the table next to the flowers. In the case of an ecclesiastic funeral, the priest starts the ceremony in this room. In the case of a civil funeral the rhetorician (speaker) also makes his speech in this same room. Normally, there is an opportunity for the family or friends to make a farewell speech (eulogy) at this point which should not be too long. Then the funeral procession proceeds to the grave where the urn or the coffin is placed to the ground and where people pay their respect towards the dead and offer their condolences to the family. Depending on the traditions of the family, there might be a wake with some light bites and refreshments for the mourners. This tradition has its roots in an ancient ritual where people sacrificed animals to the dead. This is how the cult of the dead, a veneration of the death and the belief in spirits evolved. Perhaps we could say that up until the 1950s it was mandatory to have a wake after the funeral in Hungary. Funeral mass is either held at the funeral or after it in a church.

Now let’s see what an English protestant funeral is like

It was a cremation and as such the first and most important difference is that it has two steps. Let me explain what it means. The funeral or perhaps it is better to call it service was held in the chapel which was at a crematorium. Now do not think it is an ugly and scary place. The building is in a middle of a park, which is called the Garden of Remembrance, functioning as a cemetery really. At the beginning of the service the coffin was brought in to the chapel and placed in the altar which was separated by curtains – open at this stage. Yes, you read it correctly: cremation and coffin.

The service was held by a vicar who said prayers, read from the Bible and there were songs just like at a Hungarian funeral. What was different though is that members of the family equally stepped on the pulpit to make their speech (eulogy) which was – believe it or not – funny. The intention was to involve the congregation and encourage them to laugh and express their feelings. Milestones as well as funny stories of the dead person were mentioned, so that the whole event becomes rather a celebration of a life, instead of a sad occasion. At this point the film Love Actually sprung to mind where Liam Neeson played his wife’s favourite song and a slideshow of family photos on her funeral. I thought this was much more personal and human than our funerals which are mandatorily choreographed to be sad and depressed. “Wouldn’t it be better to celebrate the life of our beloved ones with some funny stories that everybody would remember…?” , I thought. Let me remind you: this is in the West, where people are said to be less open to spirituality. Of course this is still light years behind a funeral in New Orléans where the funeral procession is playing the dead person’s favourite song and people are dancing. The English protestant service seem to be the happy medium and much more flexible than the Hungarian funerals.

Having said flexible, the family requested people to wear bright colours at the funeral and not black. I can understand this request, at the same time, being a person who likes traditions for me black remains the colour of a funeral. However, it is just a question of what you are used to, I guess, so if you manage to get your head around it and attend a few funerals (rather not, but if you have to) you may get used to it.

There were some other good ideas such as

• No flowers but donations at the end of the service to two charities chosen by the family (Guide Dogs for the Blind and Dementia Research). All in all, flowers do fade in the end and the money they cost could serve a better and more important case. This might seem to be strange and unusual, however this was only a remembrance, so no flowers on the grave were needed anyway.
• There was a little booklet on every seat in the chapel with a photo of the person passed and it also contained the program of the service: poems, hymns, songs etc. This is a nice touch and it also comes handy should someone forget the lyrics of the songs. However, I thought it might be waste and unnecessary expense as at the end of the day who would want to keep such a thing at home… I don’t think this is something that one would keep happily but I might be wrong. (And indeed I am as Bill has just said, people in England do collect them – wow…)
• What is unbelievable to me is that everybody can arrange and pay for his or her own funeral in England upfront. You just go to the funeral directors and tell them what you want, pay for it and once you die, you can be sure, your funeral will be taken care of. This is something that is impossible in Hungary. Funeral directors come and go and the company might not be there by the time you die plus prices are going up all the time so nobody would commit to bury you at x price 20 years later…

When the vicar finished the service the curtains closed. The actual funeral would be days later when the urn with the ashes will be put into a grave. This will be only attended by the closest family members. I must admit, this is extremely strange for me because it just makes you go through the pain twice and breaks your heart again. So this kind of remembrance, or service is great, but would be better if the ashes were put into the grave right after it, I think.

At the end of the service people offered their condolences to the family at the doorway and then we went to a venue where a wake was organised with refreshments. I do think it is a good idea because if relatives have not seen each other for ages and made the effort to attend the funeral and travelled hours, then it is nice to be able to catch up a little bit in a civilised way, plus they can have a bite to eat before the return journey. For instance, I learnt from an English lady at the wake, that a Catholic funeral is very similar in England to ours, however, Bill believes even a Catholic cremation would have 2 steps.

Like I said, it might seem to be odd writing about an English funeral, but it is so different that it might be interesting for others. It is not better or worse, only different. So is our culture and our funerals. Although I am a person who follows traditions, if I could chose again what kind of funeral to chose for my parents, I would chose the English protestant, I think where you can sit down in a heated chapel and celebrate their lives with funny and lovely stories rather than standing in a cold funeral home and being mandatorily sad.

English traditions and beliefs regarding death and funerals

I have always loved folklore and it amazes me that there are some traditions and customs which can be equally found all over Europe or in different countries miles away from each other with completeley different cultures. You will find this applies to some of the below ones as well.

• In Victorian England if a married woman lost her husband she had to follow very strict rules. She had to retire from public life, wear black, veil her face and cover all mirrors with a black fabric at home and stop clocks (the latter two traditions can be found all over Europe). They even wore matching, black jewellery made of jet.
• Women in Victorian times had to wear black clothes for 2 years, then the only colours they were allowed to were in the next 6 months was grey, lavender or mauve. Men however mourned for 3 months only and had to wear a black arm band only.
• Victorians talked openly about death and mourning but sexuality was a taboo. Interesting that today it is the other way round…
• Before photography appeared the only way to remember a person was to have a painting of the person which was expensive. Therefore, people wanted to have a little piece of the person’s body which would have reminded them and it was the hair. Jewellery made of hair already existed in the 17th century for example a piece of braid on a ring. Later they wore pendants painted with a paint in which they mixed a powder made of the dead’s person’s hair or wore bracelets made of hair. This really seems to be bizarre but if I didn’t have a single photo of my beloved ones, I might want a piece of them as well.
• In the English folklore the wound of a murdered person were thought to bleed again if approached by the murderer. This appears in the Niebelungen Lied (ca 1200) and in King James I’s Daemonology (1597).
  People should avoid stepping on a grave as it was said to be unlucky. Especially pregnant women had to be careful otherwise the child would be born with club foot.
• The north side of the churchyard was reserved for strangers, suicides, unbaptised and stillborn babies.
  Doors had to be opened when a person died or during the funeral to help the spirit to fly. (This can be found in many European countries as well.)
• Rain on a funeral was considered to be lucky because they believed the heavens were weeping in sympathy.

Blessed are the dead that the rain rains on. (Wales, 1909)
Happy is the corpse that the rain rains on. (Ireland, 1865)

~

On the day of Richard’s funeral the rain was torrential so perhaps the journey was safe and secure and the heavens received him gladly.

There is a saying in America, “as American as an apple pie” when describing something that is typically American. This implies Americans are extremely proud of their apple pies and consider it too has American origin. That’s not true, unfortunately. Apple pie has been eaten in Europe long before the colonisation of America and it got to America by English, Dutch and Swedish colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Where does it come from then?

The origin of the apple pie is England and the first recipe is as early as 1381. In Holland the first cookery book describing the method of making an apple pie is from 1514.

Although I am pretty sure everybody can make an apple pie, let me share a recipe I learnt here in England. You will see there are some slight differences, for example in Hungary we use grated apples, bake them in a rectangular tin and cut square shaped slices. It is different over here.

INGREDIENTS
(makes 3 little pots, for 1 big pie dish use double the amount of ingredients)

125g plain flour
115g unsalted butter
15g sugar
¼ tsp salt
icy water
3 Bramley apples
juice of half a lemon
some ground cinnamon
sugar
1 egg

First I make the pastry. I mix the salt and the sugar in the flour and then add the cold butter cut in cubes. If you have a food processor then use that it is much easier. I do not have one so I have to work with my fingertips to get a a breadcrumbs like consistency. Then add some icy water and as soon as it starts to stick together, gather it together and pat the pastry into 2 same sized balls. The dough has to chill for 1 hour before rolling, so I wrap it in cling film and put it to the fridge.

Whilst the dough is chilling in the fridge, I prepare the apples. I cut the apples in half and then take the half of either side of the core and then across the bottom of the core and then peel the pieces. I cut half a centimetre wide slices which I then put into a bowl. I add some sugar, cinnamon and the lemon juice which prevents the apple from turning to brown. I leave the apples for 30 mins to release the juice. Once done, I cook the apples just as long as they start to become soft on the outside and add some more sugar and cinnamon. This is really up to your taste. Then I let the apples to cool down.

Meanwhile, I roll out the pastry. I sprinkle flour on the work surface and rolling pin, then flatten the pastry. Working from the centre out, I roll out the pastry into a circle and put it into a bowl and press down the edges. I trim the excess. The bowls go back to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes again. Once ready, I fill the bowls with the cooled apple and put the top layer on top and tuck it under the bottom crust to seal the edges. I then brush the top layer with an egg wash and cut 3 holes so that the air can escape during baking. Bake it for 30-45 minutes 160C fan, or until golden brown. The filling should be soft when pierced with a knife. I let the pie rest and serve it with clotted cream a bit later. Alternatives to clotted cream can be vanilla ice cream, double cream (whipped) or custard.

I think it is perfect for an autumn day.

What do you think…?

I have already mentioned regions like East Anglia or Cornwall a few times, but it might not be obvious which part of England they are. To help to overcome this problem, I prepared a map with MapPoint showing the regions of England. Let’s have a quick look at them because it will be good to remember where they are, as we go on with architecture and can locate buildings easier. It is important to mention that different periods in history, different concepts and views may consider different counties to a region. I prefer below split.

South West – including Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset

West – Gloustershire, Wiltshire (N.B. Cotswolds is at the borders of Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire which has been mentioned already here.)

South – Hampshire and Isle of Wight

South East –West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent

Home Counties – This expression is extremely wide and there are lots of versions. For me Home Counties are: Surrey, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire.

East Anglia – Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Bedfordshire

East Midlands – Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire

West Midlands – Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Chesire – South of Manchestertől

Merseyside – Liverpool and surroundings

Greater Manchester – Manchester and surroundings

Lancashire – North of Manchester

Yorkshire – stretches from central England to the North, huge area

North East – Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Sunderland and Teesside

Cumbria – aka Lake District

~

Hopefully, the above will help you to locate areas as we travel this journey together.