Tea at Trianon: Tea Etiquette

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Tea Etiquette

From The Glam Pad:

The Afternoon Tea menu is traditionally served in a tiered stand. You’ll often see a three-tiered stand to hold each course. A two-tiered stand may hold sandwiches and desserts, with scones wrapped in a separate basket.

Enjoy the tea sandwiches first. They are meant to be eaten with your hands. Tea sandwiches should be cut into rectangle or triangle shapes and are flat. Some examples of tea sandwiches are smoked salmon, cream cheese with cucumbers, and turkey or ham with swiss or cheddar cheese.

After sandwiches, take a scone and break the top off over your plate so it’s in two halves. Take a piece off one at a time to eat. Spread with clotted cream first followed by jam (not jelly) or lemon curd. Be sure to serve a different spoon with the clotted cream, jam and lemon curd.

Finally, enjoy the pastries and sweets. Cakes, brownies, tarts and petit fours are some of the desserts, or puddings as they are called in England, that may be served as the final course of an Afternoon Tea. (Read more.)