High Tea

[sunny-dave]

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?

[AlwaysConfused]

fish fingers are for lunch? I only have them in sarnies for brekkie!

[Hopkirk]

No hot food at high tea, no, no, no.

The warmest thing should be the scones which haven't cooled fully from the oven

[joggerjayne]

Nanny is correct.

[tiggerblue10]

High Tea for me would be a coffee and something between two slices of bread.

[bert_h]

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.

[tiggerblue10]

...or toast.

[humbersloop]

have the same recollection dave, but never seen a hot dish included on a high tea menu in any bit of yorkshire round here

maybe it's just fallen out of style

[mccfluff]

nanny is right

[craft1948]

High tea in Yorkshire is delicious sandwiches, scones, and little cakes..........

[AlwaysConfused]

To me, high tea is triangular cut sarnies, scones with fresh cream and a dollop of jam, a pot of tea and a mouth-watering choice of bite size cakes.

[Barmaid]

I had always understood that High Tea was a hot meal, normally including meat.

Afternoon tea was taken around 4pm with sandwiches and cake. Afternoon tea was invented by some duchess or another who was fed up with the gap between lunch and dinner.

[Barmaid]

Noooooo, sarnies etc are "low tea".

[Psybbo]

Oh lord, I so want high tea now but not your version, dave

[craft1948]

Not in Yorkshire................

[tiggerblue10]

What exactly is High Tea? I've heard of Afternoon Tea but not High Tea.

[humbersloop]

^^ BM,

Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford (3 September 1788 – 3 July 1861)

[Barmaid]

Well Debretts is silent on the subject. So the best I can come up with is wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_%28meal%29

[Barmaid]

That's the girl, Sloopy.

[mccfluff]

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.


http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=838&Itemid=36#.UWbboPISR8E