A strong black tea, brewed robustly in the warmed pot and softened with a splash of milk, in the English manner. Tannic, comforting, it marks the afternoon and accompanies bread, cheese, and cake.

Why this dish? Tea was a 'sacred constant' of the Brontë day. The ever-faithful servant Tabby would bring up the teapot, and around it the sisters would walk in circles in the parlour in the evening, exchanging and reading their manuscripts.

Tea, you see, was not for us a mere drink: it was the hour when the house breathed. I would first scald the teapot, for a cold pot spoils the best leaf; then I let the tea infuse fully, very dark, as befits the climate of our hills. A splash of milk, never too much, and the cup became a companion. It was while walking around the table, the teapot cooling near the lamp, that my sisters and I read our pages and dreamed our novels.

How it was made : Water was heated in a kettle over the fire, and tea — a precious commodity — was often kept under lock in a tea caddy. In thrifty households, leaves were sometimes reused several times, and the ritual of adding milk to the cup was already well established in 19th-century England.

The contemporary twist : Served from a cast-iron teapot with a plate of oatcakes and seed cake: a true miniature 'Yorkshire afternoon tea' to share.

Charlotte Brontë · Charactorium