The English legacy is visible in a few obvious aspects of Argentine life; football, the railways and an ongoing tussle over a few islands-which-must-not-be-named spring to mind. Surprisingly, afternoon tea is another seemingly very English ritual which has been embraced by Argentines.
L’Orangerie restaurant at the Alvear Palace Hotel is beautiful; one has the option of sitting in the opulent mirrored dining room or the bright and verdant conservatory. White-gloved waiting staff speak admirable English (among other languages) and are unobtrusively attentive. Smartly dressed Argentines make up the majority of our fellow tea enthusiasts; one particular glamorous, blonde matron seems to have acquaintances around the room and greets many people with a proprietorial air.
Naively ordering three “Alvear teas” (well, there are three of us), we are politely told that two will be quite enough. I am sceptical after experiencing this sort of advice from other waiting staff in the city who seem to see themselves as my dieticians, but the advice is good and I echo it. One between two or two between three guarantees abundant indulgence, but you have to pay for one more serving of tea and champagne or kir royale for the other person. The tea is available with or without the bubbly, at $105 with (termed the ‘Rose Alvear Tea’) and $95 without. You’ll pay about $20 extra for the second glass of champagne.
The tea menu is extensive, giving you a choice between just about every combination of vanilla, hibiscus, rose petals and other refined refreshments for a thirsty lady or gentleman. My father goes into ecstasies over the ‘Vanilla Tibet’ and pops to the next door shopping mall to pick up a pot of the blend to take home. All of the flavours on offer are available from a shop called Tealosophy. The English Breakfast tea would satisfy an expat’s Twining’s craving. For today at least, you won’t need to prod a sad little Green Hills teabag repeatedly for five minutes in an attempt to coax out something resembling flavour.
The delicate, crustless little sandwiches arrive first and fillings include cream cheese and cucumber, cured ham and turkey. Next, they bring out the big guns, in the form of the tiered tea tray. Each tray proffers, in descending order, scones (two plain, one pear); an assortment of slightly more than bite-size tarts, biscuits and tiny cakes, both fruity and chocolatey; mascarpone and goat’s cheese vol-au-vents and a miniature smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel. Heavenly.
“There’s more?” we cry, when asked if we would like to wait a while before choosing our final cake. We elect to rest briefly and our tea is replenished. One Alvear tea includes one piece of cake from the trolley. I thought my eyes were bigger than my stomach but made very impressive inroads into the light cheesecake with berry coulis and decadent milhojas of cream and dulce de leche. Oh, and they bring an extra little bombón after you ask for the bill.
One rule to bear in mind is the dress code; although by no means formal (flip-flops are fine), shorts are not to be worn in the restaurant. One heavily tattooed man with a US accent sits sheepishly on an ottoman by the entrance until a pair of trousers is brought to replace his khaki shorts. He can then rejoin his friends, who have been enthusiastically examining the patisserie selection in his absence.
Sugar coursing through my veins, I realise that we have been in the Orangerie for almost two hours. If only every tea break could be like this.
The Alvear Palace Hotel, Avenida Alvear 1891. Afternoon tea is served in L’Orangerie Monday-Saturday 4.30-7pm, Sundays 5-7pm. Reservations and information on 4808 2949 or at www.alvearpalace.com
Speaking of the “English influence”, here’s something a little more down-to-earth, and very topical given the date, especially as I’m an Everton fan myself (my wife, now an exiled porteña here in Britain, is a River fan) which I lifted from Toffeeweb, an Everton fansite;
“1909 South American Tour Legacy
By John Shearon, http://www.toffeeweb.com : 07/06/2009 :
This weekend, the world’s eyes were on Normandy where, 65 years ago on the 6 June, Allied troops began the push towards Berlin and a close to the war in Europe. Although not on the same scale, both in terms of numbers and importance, 35 years earlier to the day, a English invasion was taking place in Argentina whose impact would resonate around the world during the intervening century.
On 6 June 1909 the first professional match in South America took place between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur — an event highlighted this weekend in this attached piece from the nation’s leading newspaper, El Clarín.
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/06/06/um/m-01934020.htm#comentarios
Although there had been earlier tours by English clubs, Nottingham Forest & Southampton, this was the first occasion when two professional clubs had measured up to each other in the New World — a feat not to be repeated until the Argentine league turned professional in 1931.
The match was played before the President of the Republic and his senior ministers as well as an 8,000 crowd, who had braved the heavy rains to witness the master-class. Walter Tull of Spurs and Bert Freeman of Everton were the players to catch the eye, both scoring in the 2-2 draw. Although Freeman was to play on until 1924, Tull died in France in 1918. He was the first black officer in the British army and has since become a symbol against racism.
The tour proceeded with Everton and Spurs both beating local and representative sides from both Argentina and Uruguay. A rematch between the two clubs several days later saw Everton thrash Spurs (4-0) and so lay the foundation for what is a very unique phenomenon — the birth of the Argentine Evertons.
We know that, on 24 June 1909, a club was formed in Chile that will soon be celebrating its centenary – CD Everton. At the same time, however, other Evertons were either founded or sought to change their name.
There had already been an Everton FC in Buenos Aires, founded in 1906 (the year of Everton’s FA Cup Final victory over Newcastle). In 1909 however, Club 25 de Mayo in La Plata, just outside Buenos Aires, changed its name to Everton, despite the protests of older members who objected to the adoption of a “gringo” name for their club.
In 1910, in Escobar, Buenos Aires province, clubs were named after both Everton and Spurs (the only known example of the latter). These merged to form Escobar FC who again merged in 1912 to form CA Independiente.
1910 also saw the town of Alberdi with its own Club Everton. In 1912, Everton from San Jorge, Santa Fé merged with For Ever to form the still thriving CA San Jorge. Again in the province of Santa Fé in 1914, in Cañada de Gómez, yet another Everton was founded which today plays under the name of Asociación Deportiva Everton Olimpia.
In 1922 in the province of Córdoba in Coronel Moldes, Club Everton were founded who today have their own cinema and golf course. In the same province in Cruz Alta, Club Everton were founded in 1914. In 1946 they merged with local rivals Club Jorge Newbery to form CA Jorge Newberry & Everton – known today as Newberton.
Finally, in the town of Gerli in Buenos Aires province, Club Everton, which was playing in the lower divisions in 1916-17, changed its name in 1919 to Club Piñeyro.
There may well be other Evertons dotted across the southern half of South America. In the town of Rosario in Uruguay, Club Atlético Everton, which was founded in 1922, thrives today and there are references in the works of the great Uruguayan writer, Mario Benedetti, to teams called Everton.
You have to ask yourself, would there have been a plethora of Tottenhams across the Cono Sur had they won the second game instead of the Toffees? I would hope not — although the tour and the successful part we played in it — certainly gave some impetus to the birth of so many clubs bearing our name, we mustn’t forget the role played by the ex-pat community in these locations, so many of them from the city of Liverpool.
Much of the detail and investigative work referenced in this article was provided by Jorge Gallego, an Argentine football historian from the CIHF (Centre for the Investigation of Football History) who is an authority not only on early South American football history but also early English football history. If you want to know anything about Sheffield FC then Jorge’s your man.”
Errr… Tottenham vs Everton isnt exactly in the same league as VE day.
More to the point… what you chattin bout, mate?!
Re Gary Anders;
Thought it was self-explanatory. D-Day, 6th June 1944; first professional football match in Argentina/South America, 6th June 1909.
Obviously not in the same league, but then the article was about the “English legacy” in Argentina. To my mind, the part played by Everton and English football in introducing professional football to Argentina (and South America in general), which has had a profound effect across the whole continent and population, is something more worthwhile celebrating than a few sandwiches/cakes and a cup of tea consumed by tourists and a few privileged locals who quite probably yearn whistfully for the good old days of “the process”.