One major recent development in the food scene is the emergence of a genuine cafe culture and disappearance of the traditional institution of tearooms at large. Before the 1990s, tearooms proliferated throughout the country offering cream tea, with scones, cream, and cucumber sandwiches, muffins, and custard squares, with filtered coffee or tea as drinks. New Zealanders have copied the Australian habit of adopting the Mediterranean practice of drinking espresso derived coffees. In time, cafes became wildly popular and many tearoom owners converted their businesses to cafes. Cream tea has gone out of fashion in the contemporary New Zealand dining scene, and scones are baked at homes rather than served in eateries.