Do you brits eat savory scones with your low or high teas? What do you put on them...

Do you brits eat savory scones with your low or high teas? What do you put on them? I'm trying to put together a tea menu pitch for an event. It doesn't need to be super authentic, but pointers are welcome.

Also /britfood/ general

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Also, how the fuck are you supposed to eat a scone? Do you make a sandwich out of it with the clotted cream and jam? Tear off little pieces? Small bites? It seems complicated.

>clotted cream

Who the fuck could have an appetite after hearing that babble?

You're probably not after (high) tea. That's essentially a dinner type thing, eaten a bit earlier.

If you're putting together a menu, you're after Afternoon Tea.

As for the tea itself, this is appropriate time to possibly serve Earl Gray, but the best of the lot for an Afternoon Tea blend if you can get it is Bettys. We won't kill you for serving a good breakfast blend like Yorkshire Gold either, but it's slightly out of place here. Twining's is poorly regarded weak rubbish, but you can rescue it by using twice the amount.

Finger sandwiches with the crusts cut off (soft, thinly-sliced buttered white bread; fillings like egg mayonnaise and cress, tuna mayonnaise and cucumber, and indeed actually just thinly-sliced cucumber; the exotic may try for something like coronation chicken, or cream cheese and strawberry slices).

The scones served at Afternoon Tea are exclusively sweet, and you might put currants in the mix.

Traditionally you do indeed make a sandwich out of them with the clotted cream and jam, but Devon and Cornwall will each kill you if you do it in the wrong order, and they both disagree about what the right order is. One must be diplomatic and allow that there is no one way to eat your scone. Alternatively annoy them both and do cream-jam-cream.

You'll need those little three-tier cake stands. This is something posh, and posh things have all the trimmings. It is almost impossible to go too posh when serving afternoon tea; you only know you've gone too far when someone suggests a white tie dress code. Cakes served should be small and elegant. I've seen éclairs, Battenberg, Bakewell tarts, very small strawberry gateaus, and what I can only describe as miniature cheesecakes. Sliced fruit may play a part, particularly strawberries.

Recently people have gone insane and started serving Prosecco with it. I can't blame them if it brings the money in, but this is simply not the right setting for alcohol.

>eating is complicated
Retard.

Split it in half, spread cream and jam on each side and eat them like an open sandwich in between sips of tea.

Jam or cream first depends on where you’re from

>Americans think drinking some shitty tea with some scones makes them cultural

Aaaaaaaaahahahahahahah what a fucking joke

Sometimes I've seen cheese scones with a bit of butter and chutney, but normally it's just sweet scones. You cut it in half, then put jam and clotted cream on each half like an open sandwich, pick it up and eat it.

This may well be my favorite post here in years. A considerate, well thought out post with actual advice. We need more like this.

We're talking about a meal with a heady haze of etiquette surrounding it; sumptuous, needlessly complicated and indulgent.

I mean, we cut the crusts off the sandwiches, and not only have we cut some of them into little triangles, we might even have cut some of them into soldiers instead.

OP didn't say where they were from, and it genuinely doesn't matter. Let them have it. We have some good stuff to share with the world at least, and we're not all pie and mash and full English breakfasts.

Let's face it, outside of doing something deliberately fancy for family birthdays, or hen nights (ah! hence, the Prosecco) we barely do this stuff ourselves anymore. Afternoon tea is entirely gratuitously fancy. My actual afternoon tea just now was pâté on toast and olives with brie, and let's face it, that's hardly quintessentially English is it? (Although I will note the pâté came from the butcher down the road, the bread was from the local bakery, and the brie was from Somerset.)

Bettys tea rooms in Harrogate is the most traditional; Claridge's of Mayfair the most refined.

I've never seen a savoury scone served at afternoon tea, but I suppose I can't discount the possibility. There is a good bit of variety. I've had smoked salmon, cream cheese and cornichons; I've had macarons; I've had carrot and walnut cake. Go fancy and experiment a little bit. Use duck or quail eggs in your egg mayonnaise.

I wonder if you could do a tiny mini bagel? That would look cute and taste good.

One tries. A healthy board has a good mix of both thoughtful serious posts and unapologetic McChicken and SIPBOY shitposting.

Kay from Kays good cooking has made some great scones with her easy recipe, check them out m8, turned out great when I made them.

youtube.com/watch?v=wVCJ_AefzOU

Wow, a lot of information here. Figured the thread would've dropped off.

Thanks user, this is all incredibly helpful. Especially the tea advice. For the sandwiches I was thinking egg and cress soldiers on pumpernickel, lobster salad on finger rolls, lox pinwheels on rye with dill, curried chicken salad in pastry cups, open face cucumber mint cream cheese triangles on white bread, thin slices of beef au poivre on a small roll with herb butter, and a small baguette with tapenade, tomato, and spinach. All dainty as fuck, of course, and using chives to tie them together or something.

For the scones I was going to offer plain and rose with clotted cream, raspberry jam, and lemon curd.

For the desserts, mini servings of fruit tarts, fruit mousses, tiramisu, rose eclairs, cheese cake, opera cake, carrot cake, macaron, and creme brulee. Probably not too authentic but it will be fun and look pretty.

Dude, from just the little bit I read about scones, there are many differing opinions on the ettiquette-correct way to eat them. Personally I think open with cream then jam makes the most sense.

Thank you. Chutney gives me some good ideas. Do you guys eat savory scones ever? Like breakfast, cream tea, or dinner? Not sure of all the names for your meals.

Duck and quail eggs are a great idea, thanks again!

Google some of the classic London hotels (hell even Harrod's) and peruse their tea menus.

I shove mine up my ass and poop them out via my mouth.

You're not even good at whatever it is you're trying to do.

>Do you guys eat savory scones ever?
People make scones with savoury ingredients (some recipes here bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/scone for example), but I can't think of any particular meal that they're associated with in the same way sweet scones are associated with afternoon tea.

You're more than welcome! It all sounds very tasty and I'd definitely try it. I really like the American and continental vibes you're adding to it and there's no harm in wandering out a little from the hardline traditional there - I'm sure your audience will appreciate it too.

is right that you need to be looking at your contemporaries. Note in particular that afternoon tea is Not Cheap. It is a rare treat and you're right to pull out all the stops. and treat it like a premium experience.

Oh, I thought it went without saying, but I should point out that the tea should be served in teapots, sugar cubes and milk should be available (and the milk certainly should be used, but put in last, not first). Make sure your serving staff know how to make a really good pot of English tea - you know the deal, fresh water on a rolling boil when it hits the leaves, stirred and steeped. You can use teabags but this is the kind of occasion when you ought to break out the loose leaf if at all possible.

Your front of house needs to be on point to deliver this well. Consider asking them to actually offer to pour the tea, although I understand that this may not work in your venue or necessarily be appreciated by your audience (much like we're not used to staff in shops approaching us when we enter stores, there is a slightly different culture as to service too).

is right, but mentioned they've seen cheese scones with butter and chutney at an afternoon tea and I can see that as working well.

I don't know if you allow children, but if you do potentially have children in the party, consider acquiring one or two of the Robinson's squashes (I'm sure you can probably import them or obtain them).

dont worry bro more cream for me

>judges food based on its name

lmao i aint reading all this shit nigga

Seriously though, what said

A plethora of information and it's all awesome. I've been researching this for a few days and learned more from you than scouring various websites and menus. If you don't mind my asking a few more questions, I'd be very grateful.

My vision is to make it very posh and appeal to the boojee types, yet not far from traditional, hence the changes with the sandwiches, and it's nice to see it's brit-approved! I was thinking to have the servers offer to pour the first cup, and after that it's up to the guest. Good save about the sugar cubes, too. As for the milk, only milk and never cream with tea? Are there any teas to which it isn't acceptable to add milk?

Is it common for guests to sample or at least smell the loose leaf first? A tea trolly is a possibility but seems kind of a clumsy idea to visit every table in that way. But I'd like to incorporate that small detail.

Thanks for the tip about the Robinsons and Prosecco. I take it those are big over there for afternoon tea? The hen party/prosecco bit may be helpful in the future if we ever book an event like that. Might add some pb+j for the kids also. We're not expecting any but it's alright if their parents bring them.

And to the savory scones, the chef will appreciate being able to flex some culinary muscle and come up with something different. We'll probably serve those during brunch only seeing as it isn't terribly out of place. Good to know in case I ever get to a true afternoon tea. I'm north east US and might visit a tea room in new York just to get a better sense of it all, like the Plaza or Russian tea room.

Not the other guy. But my mother does caterings for funerals, christenings and other such events. She always has someone at the tea station ready to do the serving. If people want to do it themselves then that is fine. But you wouldn't believe how angry old people can get if they have to pour their own cup of tea.

I would suggest a tea station rather than a trolley. The idea of a trolley is good until people start moving around the room, especially if there are kids at the function. Kids are like magnets to hot water.

Would also add that giving people the option of a breakfast tea even in the afternoon would probably be a good idea.

Thanks for the tips about the tea! And also about kids being a huge liability. But could you elaborate more about the tea station? Maybe it's late but I can't find what that is. The venue is pretty large, people certainly have the option to move around, especially from inside to outside patio space.

Basically an area, say in the corner of the room where the tea is served from.

You're welcome. I'm just someone from England who's had a fair few afternoon teas, is all.

We don't smell tea? It's not wine. We drink it. But by all means offer a selection; doesn't have to be incredibly extensive. Earl Gray and possibly a (less traditional but more citrussy) Lady Gray; a darjeeling; strong recommendation on the Yorkshire Gold which covers your assam-based breakfast tea well.

It's always usually milk for tea, never cream, but I'm not going to judge those with a different preference. Earl Gray may sometimes be drunk without it and with a slice of lemon instead (note: if milk is added to Earl Gray, particularly if it's the Twining's one, you want to use less than normal, you'll see why from the more rapid colour change).

Remember, the freshly drawn water must be still boiling when it hits the leaves, and you want to give it a pretty good stir in the teapot.

Your audience might want a choice of coffee instead: I give you permission to allow for that, and cream may be used for coffee if one wishes. It had better be a bloody good coffee if so. Go for the very top. I'm not allowed coffee anymore for medical reasons but Gesha was very pleasant and afternoony, might be a bit much.

You could consider allowing for dietary requirements (e.g. have soya milk/almond milk on standby; unfortunately there is nothing I know that you can do about the cream, although my girlfriend has suggested slightly melted soya ice-cream might suffice in a pinch). Difficult choices in catering, I know. It will depend on your guests' requirements.

is on point about children. The afternoon teas that I've had have all had table service, but a tea area is a solid recommendation for a more general catering.

I wouldn't say Robinson's is big (except for Wimbledon, but that's its own unique separate thing), but children don't usually drink hot drinks like tea; so it's prudent to have an orange and a blackcurrant squash stashed away just in case in my experience.

I should mention, the cheese scones I've seen were little ones as part of the savoury stuff, not replacing the usual sweet ones.

All much appreciated tips. It sounds like you work in the industry. I can't have coffee either, gives me heart palps, but tea and decaf are okay. Over here, they have a habit of letting you smell the tea leaves, funny how customs differ. I'll be sure to source out the best coffee money can buy. And soy milk, good call. Hopefully it's successful and I'll check back in with an update. Thanks so much!

Okay, I get it. With our layout, most of the setup for trays and tea pots will be from back of house. Over here an overbearing server is kind of viewed as a nuisance, so having to send them over to refill tea cups, which are smaller than beverages and harder to guage when scanning tables, seems alien.

Also very helpful! I was thinking of offering strictly savory trays as well as sweet trays, so those will make a nice addition.

Oh, I don't work in the industry professionally, this is strictly from social experience - I've been a guest at quite a few afternoon teas, as well as a hostess of a scattering of them (and even a maid at one - never have I appreciated how hard front-of-house staff work so much in my life!).

I did wonder about the overbearing server thing. It's strange how culture can differ sometimes in that regard but that's precisely why adaptation of some things is a good idea - besides, given how much British food has been borrowed, invaded, or outright stolen from other cultures over the centuries we really ought to be more understanding and adventurous about it. It's not like we grow tea ourselves. I'm not sure I would find an afternoon tea with chai and samosas traditional in the slightest, but I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at it.

We don't do fancy all that much honestly, so when we do, we go faintly insane with fancy. Pull out the stops for the setting. This is a job for the good china (we have a Royal Crown Derby set), even silverware if it is available!

Best of luck and may you all have a pleasant afternoon tea. Give the staff the leftovers - there probably will be leftovers - they deserve it!

>never have I appreciated how hard front-of-house staff work so much in my life
Oh you poor delicate princess. Maybe you should go check out the mines next, see a real days work love.

no need to be so bitter, plebeian