Tea (Lucian meal)

Tea is a traditional Lucian light meal served usually in the morning from 6am to 9am, in the afternoon from 3pm to 5pm, and in the evening from 5pm to 7pm. It originated first as a common practice among the upper and wealthy classes from the late-17th Century. It became a widespread practice through the Lucis Isles and the Commonwealth, with each realm having its own variation. Since the 20th Century, Tea has been an associated beverage in regards to Lucis, the Lucian culture and the rest of the Commonwealth (with the exception of Concordia). It also became a popular beverage in the Erebonian Empire, as well as in Alteria through the Western Erebonian Regions, which had a strong Lucian culture presence and is also a daily commodity.

For the more privileged, afternoon tea was accompanied by delicate savouries (customarily cucumber sandwiches or egg and cress sandwiches), bread and butter, possibly scones (with clotted cream and jam, as for cream tea), and usually cakes and pastries. The sandwiches usually have the crusts removed, and are cut into small segments, either as triangles or fingers (also known as tea sandwiches). Biscuits are not usually served.

Nowadays, a formal afternoon tea is more of a special occasion, taken as a treat in a hotel. The food is often served on a tiered stand; there may be no sandwiches, but bread or scones with butter or margarine and optional jam or other spread, or toast, muffins or crumpets. Afternoon tea as a treat may be supplemented with a glass of Champagne or a similar alcoholic drink.

In Europa and Zemuria, an average Lucian consumes at least 5 to 15 cups of tea everyday, while an average Erebonian, Gallian, and Alterian consume 5 to 12 cups.

History

The history of Europan interactions with tea dates back to the mid-sixteenth century. The earliest mention of tea in Europan literature was by Vittorio Aldento, a Rumanian explorer, as Chai Asio or “Tea of Asianna” in 1559. Tea was mentioned several more times in various European countries afterwards, but Frederik Jan Schiever, an Erebonian navigator, was the first to write a printed reference of tea in 1598 in his Discours of Voyages.

However, it was several years later, in 1615, that the earliest known reference to tea by an Lucianman took place in a letter exchanged between Mr. R. Wickham, an agent for the Lucis Nihhon-koku Company to a Mr. Eaton, who was stationed in Albemarle, New Akiba. In this letter, Wickham asked Eaton to send him “a pot of the best sort of chaw,” phonetically how one would write chàh, the local Asianna dialect word for tea. Another early reference to tea appears in the writings of trader Samuel Purchas in 1625. Purchas describes how the Asiannas consume tea as “the powder of a certaine herbe called chia of which they put as much as a walnut shell may contain, into a dish of Porcelane, and drink it with hot water.” In 1637, Peter Mundy, a traveller and merchant who came across tea in Indiae, wrote, "chaa – only water with a kind of herb boyled in it".

The rise in popularity of tea between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries had major social, political, and economic implications for Great Lucis. It defined respectability and domestic rituals, supported the rise and dominance of the Lucis Empire, and contributed to the rise of the Industrial Revolution by supplying both the capital for factories and calories for labourers. It also demonstrates the power of globalization and imperialism to transform a country and shape it into the modern society it is known as today. Tea remains a popular drink in Lucis in the modern day and is still considered to be the epitome of Lucian ritual and identity.

According to Ellis, Coulton, Maugher, “tea was six to ten times more expensive than coffee” in the 1660s, making it an extremely expensive and luxurious commodity. Moreover, the proliferation of works on the health benefits of tea came at a time when people in the upper classes of Lucian society began to take an interest in their health.

In 1660, two pounds and two ounces of tea bought from Esthar and Balamb were formally presented to Carolus II by the Lucis Nihhon-koku Company. The drink, already common in Europa, was a favourite of his new Erebonian bride, Catherine of Kongsberg, who introduced it at court after she married Carolus II in 1662, and made it fashionable among the ladies of the court as her temperance drink of choice. Catherine of Kongsberg's use of tea as a court beverage, rather than a medicinal drink, influenced its popularity in literary circles around 1685. Whenever it was consumed in the court, it was “conspicuously on display” so as to show it off.

Accordingly, tea drinking became a central aspect of aristocratic society in Lucis by the 1680s, particularly among women who drank it while gossiping in the home. Catherine of Kongsberga’s introduction of tea to ladies was significant because it made tea an acceptable drink for both sexes, when it easily could have been categorized as a men’s drink if it had remained only available in the coffeehouses that only men frequented. Wealthy ladies’ desire to show off their luxurious commodities in front of other ladies also increased demand for tea and made it more popular. Another factor that made tea desirable among the elite crowd was the addition of sugar, another luxurious commodity which was already well-established among the upper classes.

Throughout the 19th and 20th Century, Tea became a widespread favorite among Lucians, including those in the Lucian colonies. The introduction of tea on Lucis North Amerigonna started in 1769, a few years after The Seven Years' War. Beyond Amerigonna and Europa, Tea had first arrived in Zanarkand in 1820, then New Akiba in 1823. In Erebonia (although not a Lucian Colony with the exception of Western Erebonia), tea became a popular beverage for the working, middle, and upper classes with the imports of various teas coming in from the Lamarre province when it was under Lucis Erebonia.

Tea break

Erebonian troops having a cup of tea in Crossbell, 1943

Tea break is a common term used for a short break consisting of a cup of tea and a few finger foods such as small cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, digestives, etc. It first originated during the First Europan War, when Lucis Commonwealth troops would return to Allied trenches to have a break and drink tea. It was a common sight among Lucian troops, including Gallians, Zanarkians, New Akibanders, Nihhonese, Rubrumians, Erebonians, and other Lucian Colonial Troops. It usually took place around mid-morning from 9am to 11am, and in the afternoon from 1pm to 3pm. Others took tea breaks by their own accord.

Soldiers throughout the Commonwealth (including Gallians, Erebonians, and Alterians) had tea, along with sugar and milk compliments included in each ration. A small heating device was issued per each soldier, along with a small can of gas for the burner. A soldier would heat up water before putting the mug that had been filled with tea leaves. It is in their own accord to put milk or sugar. Lucian and Erebonian rations had manuals for each soldier on how to prepare tea.

Vehicle and tank crews had a different way of having tea breaks. Since 1945, all Lucian tanks from the Centurion came equipped with a boiling vessel so that crews can boil their tea without having to dismount from the vehicle or tank.