(Traditional) Scottish High Tea

Post by Brian Reay
I was reminiscing with (to?) my wife earlier about a trip with my
parents to Scotland during which we had 'High Tea'. My memory is of
having a substantial meal (more than I could eat these days), in some
ways more like a traditional cooked breakfast- bacon, eggs, etc followed
by scones and cakes.
My wife was a bit surprised at the description so I turned to Google
which has yielded confusing results. Some establishments offering a high
tea (in Scotland) offer a menu which is far more akin to an English Tea,
finger sandwiches, scones, cakes etc but no 'main course'. A few seem
to offer just a main course, more like a (light) dinner or late lunch.
Have menus changed- perhaps to reflect modern trends or is my memory
playing tricks?

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".

Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.

In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".

Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

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Brian Reay

2019-06-11 19:35:28 UTC

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".
Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.
In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".
Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)

The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

John J Armstrong

2019-06-12 08:54:45 UTC

Post by Brian Reay
Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)
The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

High Tea wasn't really a tradition then, although looking at Google,
it seems that it may have become one now. It was what we ate every
day, except it was normally just called "tea" by most people. Fish
and chips - yes, I see what you mean, but I would say f & c was, and
is, popular across all levels of society, certainly in Scotland. We
had fish once or twice a week, when the Eyemouth fish van called. The
border town where I lived was a long way from the coast.

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Brian Reay

2019-06-12 13:30:42 UTC

I grew up on Tyneside and fish was quite popular- probably once a week but
not deep fried- not a ‘snob’ thing, my father couldn’t always eat fried
food. The evening mean was called tea but was the main meal- when the men
came home from work (the shipyard in my father’s case). Lunch was called
dinner and was cooked- you walked home from school for it. I was talking
to my brother recently about such things and the amount of food we ate (not
just us) was huge- two cooked meals a day was the norm. I don’t eat
remotely that today!

However, few children were over weight, things like asthma were rare.
Everyone had a coal fire.

kat

2019-06-13 17:14:51 UTC

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".
Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.
In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".
Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)
The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

I can remember high tea , or tea, as a cooked meal such as ham and eggs, or
fish and chips, with bread and butter, and cake, when we visited back “
home” in the 60s and 70s. We didn’t always have big dinner so had plenty
of room for it!

--
kat >^..^<

Brian Reay

2019-06-13 17:31:27 UTC

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".
Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.
In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".
Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)
The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

I quizzed my youngest's boyfriend (he's about 30 and Scottish) and has
never heard of one. Daughter insists he is really Scottish because he
drinks Irn Bru. Certainly trying to find somewhere that serves one using
Google has been impossible so far.

I've half concluded people just don't eat as much. I must admit, I
couldn't eat a traditional High Tea these days.

--
Always smile when walking, you never know where there is a camera ;-)

Remarkable Coincidences:
The Stock Market Crashes of 1929 and 2008 happened on the same
date in October. In Oct 1907, a run on the Knickerbocker Trust
Company led to the Great Depression.

kat

2019-06-13 19:25:50 UTC

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".
Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.
In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".
Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)
The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

I quizzed my youngest's boyfriend (he's about 30 and Scottish) and has
never heard of one. Daughter insists he is really Scottish because he
drinks Irn Bru. Certainly trying to find somewhere that serves one using
Google has been impossible so far.
I've half concluded people just don't eat as much. I must admit, I
couldn't eat a traditional High Tea these days.

Would definitely depend on what else I had eaten during the day, and have a
limit on the bread and cake I could consume! But given a sensible (small!)
portion size it’s a good sort of meal.

--
kat >^..^<

Kev

2019-06-13 21:08:40 UTC

A traditional "Scottish High Tea" requires first of all a knife and
fork, and something which requires their use, such as you describe.
That is a cardinal rule, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of
most Scots. Fish and chips was another perennial favourite. Bread and
butter, scones, (Scotch) pancakes, teacakes, gingerbread, fruit loaf
and cakes followed. The meal was consumed with large amounts of tea,
or milk for young children. This meal would be eaten after the
working day, probably between 5 pm and 6 pm. That was the last meal of
the day, with perhaps a cup of tea, or glass of milk and a biscuit
before bed. This snack was known as "supper".
Establishments calling a meal "High Tea" where a knife and fork is
not required should IMHO be called out under the Trade Descriptions
Act! It should properly be called "(English) tea", or perhaps
"afternoon tea", and was eaten between lunch and (evening) dinner.
In the 50s and 60s, when I grew up, Scots usually had breakfast,
dinner and high tea, although it was just known as "tea"; the "high"
was understood. "Dinner" was the main meal of the day and was eaten at
what we would now call lunchtime. Nowadays, we tend to have a snack
lunch at lunchtime, and the main meal in the evening. Most Scots
still call it "tea", though some call it "supper".
Your memory is certainly not playing tricks. Times and menus have
changed, not necessarily for the better!

Thank you, that is reassuring ;-)
The fish and chips surprised me a bit. I was under the (perhaps
mistaken) impression that High Tea was a rather middle or upper class
tradition, whereas fish and chips tend to be labelled as more working
class. (I quite like fish and chips, although I don't often indulge in
them. )

I quizzed my youngest's boyfriend (he's about 30 and Scottish) and has
never heard of one. Daughter insists he is really Scottish because he
drinks Irn Bru. Certainly trying to find somewhere that serves one using
Google has been impossible so far.
I've half concluded people just don't eat as much. I must admit, I
couldn't eat a traditional High Tea these days.

Would definitely depend on what else I had eaten during the day, and have a
limit on the bread and cake I could consume! But given a sensible (small!)
portion size it’s a good sort of meal.

Is this link any use?

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/5-places-high-tea-highlands-7620820

Brian Reay

2019-06-14 16:08:20 UTC

Post by Kev