New Article: High Tea

OK, kids! Time for the Vee Tea weekly article! This one picks up where last week left off, with High Tea. Here's an excerpt about High Tea (a.k.a. "Meat Tea") fare:

As the name suggests, “meat tea” includes meat, and often an abundance of it. Below is a listing of common high tea dishes, sorted by type. Foods that are particular to a region or country have their origin listed in parentheses. The few foods that are usually vegetarian will have one asterisk (*) and the fewer foods that are usually vegan will have two (**).



Meat Dishes

Bacon and Egg Pie—a very meaty pie with a lard crust and (occasionally) with some vegetables (Irish)

Ham—large, baked, meaty

Other Meats—served hot or, more often, cold (particularly in England)

Poacher’s Pie—a pie made with beef, rabbit, chicken, and game (Wales)

Roast Beef—a large piece of beef, usually rump roast with fat marbling, that has been roasted with gravy

Sausages—various types

Sausages and Eggs—just like it sounds, sausages (be they beef, pork, or a blend) cooked and served with eggs (Scotland)

Steak and Kidney Pie—a pie dish, filled with diced steak, beef kidneys, and a thick beef sauce (England)

Steak Pie—another pie dish, filled with steak, onion, carrots, and gravy (Scotland)

Yorkshire Pie—Think “chicken pot pie with beef instead of chicken” and you’re getting close . . . except that these pies were often huge and made in fancy shapes with designs made from dough on the surface.



Fish Dishes

Haddock—lightly smoked and flavored (“Finnan Haddie”) or just heavily smoked, sometimes made into a stew (Scotland)

Kippers in Milk—herring poached in milk (Scotland)

Pickled Salmon— salmon preserved in vinegar

Soused Mackerel—mackerel baked with vinegar



Baked Goods

Barm Brak—fruitcake (Irish)*

Biscuits—You know this one already.*

Bread and Butter—sometimes in the form of a sandwich, or buttered toast*

Cakes—many kinds, many flavors, all types of sponge cakes with jam were very popular at the time*

Crumpets—small, round, pancake-like baked goods often eaten with butter*

Drop Scones—an easy-to-make variation on British scones (Scotland)*

Dundee Cake—a rich fruitcake (Scotland)*

Gingerbread—in this case, a moist cake flavored with ginger and molasses (Scotland)*

Muffins—various types*

Sally Lunns—a bread/cake that is often round, sometimes square, and always surrounded by legend and controversy*

Scones—served with cream and/or jam/preserves (usually strawberry)*

Various Other Pastries—Use your imagination.*



Vegetables

Onion Cake—a.k.a. “Teisen Nionod,” a slow-baked potato and onion casserole (Wales)*

Potatoes—mashed, stewed, boiled, baked with seasonings, and just about every other way you can think of preparing them

Various Other Vegetables—Other vegetables were served in dishes and on their own, but not much attention was paid to them, as meat was considered to be more important.



Beverages

Ale—a full-bodied, barley malt beer, sometimes with a fruity or buttery taste, and sometimes spiced**

Coffee—Yes, back in the day you could serve coffee at a tea meal without starting a row. In fact, tea was popularized by coffeehouses during this era, so fans of both beverages got along quite amicably.**

Tea—more on this later**



Other Foods

Baked Beans—seasoned with molasses and ham, and then served on toast (England)
Cheese—various kinds, served with bread*

Eggs—served in a variety of ways*

Glamorgan Sausage—a.k.a. “Selsig Morgannwg,” an odd dish that is made of cheese, bread, leeks, and eggs, but shaped like a sausage and fried (Wales)*

Irish Rarebit—a variation on Welsh Rarebit, topped with onions, herbs, gherkin pickles, and vinegar instead of tomatoes

Sandwiches—(see Low Tea for more information)

Shepherd’s Pie—a deep pie filled with chopped beef and onions and covered with mashed potatoes (England)

Various Fruits—these varied with the season**

Various Jams, Jellies, Preserves, and Marmalades—Strawberry was and still is the most popular.**

Welsh Rarebit—a.k.a. “Caws Pobi,” a cheese, bread, and tomato casserole (Wales, obviously)*


Here's more on High Tea foods, etiquette, history, and tea. Enjoy!