High Tea - does such a thing still exist?

grunnie

comeandgo wrote: »

North east Scotland, Ugie House in Keith to be exact.

North east Scotland again, The Old Coach House Buckie lovely high tea.

carriebradshaw

When I worked in a hotel in the Scottish Borders,High Tea was things like plaice or scampi, or gammon and chips, or bacon egg sausage & tomatoes with a pot of tea.Then along side you'd have 2 tier cake stand with bread and butter slices on the bottom and fancy cakes on the top.

Afternoon Tea was a 3 tier cake stand, finger sandwiches on the bottom, scones with jam & cream in the middle and fancy cakes on top.,served with a pot of tea.

They were available every day between 2pm to 4.30pm. The scones were made in house and the little cakes and meringues were made by local people at home,wonderful they were too

caronc

carriebradshaw wrote: »

When I worked in a hotel in the Scottish Borders,High Tea was things like plaice or scampi, or gammon and chips, or bacon egg sausage & tomatoes with a pot of tea.Then along side you'd have 2 tier cake stand with bread and butter slices on the bottom and fancy cakes on the top.

Afternoon Tea was a 3 tier cake stand, finger sandwiches on the bottom, scones with jam & cream in the middle and fancy cakes on top.,served with a pot of tea.

They were available every day between 2pm to 4.30pm. The scones were made in house and the little cakes and meringues were made by local people at home,wonderful they were too

Sounds just the ticket

mumps

monnagran wrote: »

I remember them well and am salivating at the memory.

I think that it stemmed from the days when lunch was the main meal of the day. Most people worked within easy reach of home and children walked home from school at lunch time. I'm going back to the dark ages you understand. Then tea was a real tea. Bread and butter, jam, some sort of spread, cheese, cucumber or a tomato and lettuce in the summer, and cake.
On the odd occasion when we had to manage with a sandwich for lunch then we had 'high tea'. This meant something cooked but not a gravy and vegetable affair. Probably something on toast, or fried or baked quickly and a pudding or cake.

High tea was the best meal in the world.

When I lived in the midlands people would talk about a cooked tea or a not having a cooked tea, the non cooked tea was the something on toast or fried like sausage and chips. My mother could never get her head round the idea of a cooked tea, other than salad she thought everything was cooked.

My granny had been a cook in service and when she would do a high tea she would always tell us kids that we were going to have a high tea off a low table. We thought it was hilarious but then again granny's homemade bread, jam and cakes would put anyone in a good mood.

caronc

mumps wrote: »

When I lived in the midlands people would talk about a cooked tea or a not having a cooked tea, the non cooked tea was the something on toast or fried like sausage and chips. My mother could never get her head round the idea of a cooked tea, other than salad she thought everything was cooked.

My granny had been a cook in service and when she would do a high tea she would always tell us kids that we were going to have a high tea off a low table. We thought it was hilarious but then again granny's homemade bread, jam and cakes would put anyone in a good mood.

Fab memory -

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I remember being puzzled about High Tea when reading Enid Blyton stories growing up in the 80s. I always thought it was a rural thing; ie farm workers up at first light would want a hot meal late afternoon as they'd already had a long day; also that on a dairy farm the constant production of milk/butter/cream etc meant more opportunities for eating it.

The kids in Blyton books did seem to eat fantastically well as I recall; endless feasts of sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, cakes etc. I always wanted to try ginger beer, but it wasn't sold at our local shop.

caronc

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I remember being puzzled about High Tea when reading Enid Blyton stories growing up in the 80s. I always thought it was a rural thing; ie farm workers up at first light would want a hot meal late afternoon as they'd already had a long day; also that on a dairy farm the constant production of milk/butter/cream etc meant more opportunities for eating it.

The kids in Blyton books did seem to eat fantastically well as I recall; endless feasts of sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, cakes etc. I always wanted to try ginger beer, but it wasn't sold at our local shop.

They did didn't they. My grandad used to make ginger beer it was lovely - really spicy was so disappointed the first time I ever had a bought one

Austin_Allegro

Yes, high tea still exists. In my line of work from time to time I am treated to it in London hotels, when people want to do some corporate schmoozing a bit more than a drink but a bit less than a full meal. Unfortunately it doesn't happen that often!

I always thought 'dinner' if used for the evening meal should only be used if it was a formal meal with servants, that one 'dressed' for, ie wore evening dress.

'Supper' was a much less formal and lighter evening meal. So probably after the First World War, and definitely after the Second World War, the term 'dinner' for the evening meal seemed a bit pretentious when people didn't wear evening dress or have servants any more.

I may be wrong though. I recall Hyacinth Bouquet - the last word in lower middle class aspirational living - referring to her 'candlelit supper parties' - she didn't call them dinner parties. Certainly when I was growing up it was always 'supper', my mother (who came from a fairly well to do military/public school background) thought calling it dinner was pretentious.

caronc

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

Yes, high tea still exists. In my line of work from time to time I am treated to it in London hotels, when people want to do some corporate schmoozing a bit more than a drink but a bit less than a full meal. Unfortunately it doesn't happen that often!

I always thought 'dinner' if used for the evening meal should only be used if it was a formal meal with servants, that one 'dressed' for, ie wore evening dress.

'Supper' was a much less formal and lighter evening meal. So probably after the First World War, and definitely after the Second World War, the term 'dinner' for the evening meal seemed a bit pretentious when people didn't wear evening dress or have servants any more.

I may be wrong though. I recall Hyacinth Bouquet - the last word in lower middle class aspirational living - referring to her 'candlelit supper parties' - she didn't call them dinner parties. Certainly when I was growing up it was always 'supper', my mother (who came from a fairly well to do military/public school background) thought calling it dinner was pretentious.

So weird the connatations meal names have in the UK - then you have school dinners and "dinner ladies" never in my experience "lunch ladies"

thorsoak

I always wanted to open a Scottish-style tea shop called "Ye'll stay for yer tea?" I remember high tea on a Sunday - as someone else said, best tablecloth, best china (and on the dining table, not the kitchen table) In the summer, there would be ham or pork pie and salad (always tomato, lettuce and cucumber and heinz salad cream) or maybe - tinned salmon. Bread and butter (white and brown - thinly sliced by mum, clasping the bread to her bosum as she sawed away at each slice) with home-made jam, followed by freshly made scones (pronounced likes gone) victoria jam sandwich and gingerbread or fruit cake. Winter would change the salad and pork pie to poached eggs on toasted muffins. My children (now in their 40s) still fondly remember Granny's high teas - and as someone else said, mum would always say "high tea on a low table" to the children who would be perched around the two coffee tables (well 8 or 10 adults with 11 children would be a bit much).
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