ChatterBank3 mins ago
High Tea
65 Answers
Spinning out of the Hotel Thread :
I think a High Tea, as eaten in Yorkshire and Scotland, usually has a hot dish (often a small portion of fish and chips) with bread and butter on the side before moving on to the sandwiches and cakes etc.
nannybooby is horrified by this and says :
"High tea is cucumber sandwiches on thin white bread crusts cut off and NO cream cheese or other junk, scones and strawberry jam and cream ,lots of liitle tempting cakes and Nanny's Tea (see earlier posting) . FISH FINGERS
the're for lunch!!!"
What is the collective wisdom of AB on this urgent matter - is it a North/South divide, or something more subtle?
I think a High Tea, as eaten in Yorkshire and Scotland, usually has a hot dish (often a small portion of fish and chips) with bread and butter on the side before moving on to the sandwiches and cakes etc.
nannybooby is horrified by this and says :
"High tea is cucumber sandwiches on thin white bread crusts cut off and NO cream cheese or other junk, scones and strawberry jam and cream ,lots of liitle tempting cakes and Nanny's Tea (see earlier posting) . FISH FINGERS
the're for lunch!!!"
What is the collective wisdom of AB on this urgent matter - is it a North/South divide, or something more subtle?
Answers
English High Tea usually involved a mug of tea, bread, vegetables, cheese and occasionally meat. Variations on high tea could include the addition of pies, potatoes and crackers. So while Afternoon Tea was largely a social event for their upper class counterparts
16:50 Thu 11th Apr 2013
-- answer removed --
It's definitely a north/south divide. In Scotland, a "high tea" as served in the restaurants of the toffee-nosed department stores in Sauchiehall Street in the 1950's was definitely a choice of hot dish, with bread and butter, plus scones, fancy little iced cakes called "French cakes", and a pot of tea.
Well Debretts is silent on the subject. So the best I can come up with is wiki
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English High Tea usually involved a mug of tea, bread, vegetables, cheese and occasionally meat. Variations on high tea could include the addition of pies, potatoes and crackers.
So while Afternoon Tea was largely a social event for their upper class counterparts, high tea was a necessary meal in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This traditional high tea still exists for some parts of the North and Scotland.
Why is it called ‘high tea'?
A possible explanation why this type of meal was called high tea is the fact that it was eaten at a table. In comparison, Afternoon Tea was taken whilst seating in low, comfortable chairs or sofas. Of course, soon after, the upper classes developed their own variation and also called it ‘high tea'. It was a meal that could be eaten when their servants were away or not available, as it was so easy to prepare. The upper class ‘high tea' involved the amalgamation of Afternoon Tea and high tea, with the addition of pigeon, veal, salmon and fruit.
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So while Afternoon Tea was largely a social event for their upper class counterparts, high tea was a necessary meal in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This traditional high tea still exists for some parts of the North and Scotland.
Why is it called ‘high tea'?
A possible explanation why this type of meal was called high tea is the fact that it was eaten at a table. In comparison, Afternoon Tea was taken whilst seating in low, comfortable chairs or sofas. Of course, soon after, the upper classes developed their own variation and also called it ‘high tea'. It was a meal that could be eaten when their servants were away or not available, as it was so easy to prepare. The upper class ‘high tea' involved the amalgamation of Afternoon Tea and high tea, with the addition of pigeon, veal, salmon and fruit.
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