Real English Conversation - British Culture Afternoon Tea

afternoon

tea? Oh, yes, absolutely, it's, oh, it's lovely, it's because, again, like I say, it is. often for a special occasion, a birthday or something, having a glass of Prosecco now is maybe controversial, but I'm more of a fan of Prosecco than champagne, so yes, a glass of Prosecco when you first sit down and that too It might be quite nice before the sandwich or food comes out, is to sit back and enjoy a glass of Prosecco. first and I've loosened you up, loosened me up absolutely, yeah, I think they figured out if it's high tea, it's a different name when you have alcohol, right.

I mean, I've heard of high tea, but it's actually something I should look for. I don't know the difference, yes, different interesting versions. You mentioned it's controversial with Prosecco, but I think actually Prosecco is everyone's favorite in the UK because it's cheap, it's cheaper and you know, unless you can afford to buy champagne on a whim and have it as part of the champagne tea of the

afternoon

is reserved for very special occasions, otherwise, because it is very expensive and, in fact, I think that someone of an average palate who does not make a living tasting wine would not be able to tell the difference between champagne and the Prosecco.

I might be saying something very controversial here but for most people Prosecco hits the spot, it gets the job done, two very common phrases there and yes it's much more affordable so Prosecco all the way and obviously as we know, Prosecco from Italy and champagne from France. but I always like to have a piece of fruit in my Prosecco, so a strawberry or a raspberry just to offset the spiciness, sometimes yes, I love it when the fruit has been there for a while and you finish a drink and then I'm very little feminine. and I take a spoon or a fork and scoop out the fruit or, if no one is looking, I use my finger to scoop out the fruit and then eat it.

Yes, I will use my fingers until the end, yes, so our afternoon tea, obviously. very delicious um very sweet and also because of the pomp and event that is afternoon tea you have to have a very well presented table so often you would have a nice clean white tablecloth which is always a concern for me because I tend to make a bit of a mess, and you might have a placemat or one of those big plates and then your actual plate on top of it, which I never

real

ly understood, but actually that big plate acts as a placemat, right? is that so? and then you will have your napkin, which would be a cloth napkin, not a paper one, and it will be neatly folded.

It can be attached with a napkin ring which is just a metal ring to hold it well. My mom used to play the role. napkins, but she would fold them like a fan, you know, the design and put it in the glass or put it on the plate, remember at Christmas or Sunday lunches sitting there for years folding all these napkins into fans. that was always fun, oh I've never been to yours or had a fan napkin. I think I'll make sure you do that from now on. Well now the kids are growing up and taking control again and we can have good meals once again um and then we talked about these cups and sauces and they would be the best crockery that would come out, they are the things that collect dust in the cupboard most of the time. time, but if you're hosting a meal or afternoon tea at home then you'd take your fine china out of the cupboard, dust it off and put it on display um and then it's always nice to offset everything with a bouquet of flowers, isn't it?

I love flowers, yes, I always always have to have fresh flowers. and the frescoes are beautiful too and I think people are going crazy now for the table decorations. I know that whenever I have a dinner or party of any kind I will pay special attention to how I dress the table because I want it that way. everything to look just look very pretty and be part of the experience as well and I think that when you go to a restaurant or a special place to have afternoon tea, it is part of the experience the way the table is dressed and also The way they deliver the food also breaks down you have plates for your sandwiches at the bottom and then the next Land tends to be the buns or nowadays you can have things like savory muffins and things like that so they will add an extra yes. extra level so that you can then have the cakes on top and again they come out beautifully presented and yes these are called multi tier cake stands so that you have the dishes layered on these lovely cake stands yes yes fantastic and ones that you spoke You know different places where you could experience afternoon tea.

We have already talked about restaurants, but some hotels also offer this experience, so even if you are not staying at that hotel, you can book to go and have this afternoon tea experience. in your restaurant um and notable places in London for those of you visiting the capital are Claridges, the Ritz, Selfridges, Harrods and Savoy, so these places make a very elegant and probably very expensive afternoon tea. Have you ever been to any of these places? like you know it's horrible I don't remember I feel like I've been somewhere but I don't remember the other thing to say is that you have to dress appropriately if you're in jeans and you look pretty scruffy you'll get rejected which I think in a way sense is pretty good because I think it's good to have a sense of occasion and it's good to make an effort and have standards and things like that, so I think I'm a self.

I'm a fan of that very formal outfit or it's semi-formal, semi-formal, so obviously you don't have to go with a ball gown and top hat and tails, but you would have to wear nice pants and I. I think you can

real

ly wear jeans, but you know the Smart Ones, where they custom make them and you have the rest of your outfit put together so you have to look presentable, gosh, it can be embarrassing to get rejected, right? it would be I think they do it very I think my brother has been rejected really yes um and I think they do it very well they are very nice about it but they say maybe it's not appropriate or you have something else and I think you can't wear sneakers, things may have changed now but I know traditionally and years ago when maybe I would have gone you had to show up accordingly but it's actually one of the best places I go.

I gave two places I've been to best for afternoon tea. This will tell you a lot about me. You know how I am, but my sister and I went. I think it's called Lady Dinah's Crazy Cat Emporium, right where you are. afternoon tea surrounded by cats now some people will be sitting there that's very unhealthy and sounds disgusting but it's right at mine on my sister's street and you walk in and get a table and then everything around you is exclusively decorated for cats, so you'll have a tree in the middle of the room that has branches but the cats can walk around and then you have a bunch of cat beds everywhere and I remember Harriet and I got there and we were very picky about the cats.

Like, oh, how cute and I just wanted to pet them all the rest, but then the food came out and we were like, forget about the cats, let's focus on what's important and it was a really delicious afternoon tea, not just because of the cat but The food was really delicious, that's interesting. I wonder how much of your positive experience and the positive environment actually informed your taste buds and your perception of the food because it can be altered if you know your mood and your experience of the environment. Yes, this is it. This is true, it is true, but I thought the sandwiches were especially delicious.

They also gave you a choice, so I think I chose all the vegetarian options and they had delicious things I hadn't tried before, like sun-dried tomato and hummus. really really delicious and they also came in little rolls rather than just slices of bread so it's a bit different and I think we had a few more savory treats too but it was really delicious and then the other place I went again in North Yorkshire , visiting a friend and the reason why I think I like this afternoon tea because it was not delicate at all, the sandwiches were packed in huge doors, yes, then you could choose between a quiche or a cake and then you had a slice of cake, so in the end you absolutely needed a doggie bag, but I figured now I'm getting my money's worth.

This is amazing, but you certainly wouldn't want to have dinner afterwards, it wasn't afternoon tea. in that sense no, no, well I'm certainly hungry now after talking about all this food and especially when you mention cake because I'm a northern girl at heart and you can take me out of the north, but when you mention the topic of cake I just make stomach like what's your favorite, well, I mean, I'm What's the phrase? I was a vegetarian and then I wasn't a vegetarian and now I'm trying to be a vegetarian again, but I'm taking baby steps, so I'm trying. eliminate red meat, for example, and any processed or smoked meats, like bacon and hams and things like that, so just eat chicken and fish for the moment, but I will gradually eliminate it, but my favorite pie is meat and beer pie or the meat and potato one, which they don't make here, we don't have meat and potato pies in the south, but I think they are a very tasty and filling pie.

I mean, cake is usually quite filling, you know, they're quite comforting. heavy meals, but yes, the richness of a steak, a steak and kidney or a steak and ale pie with gravy oh, it's just delicious, well, they call it comfort food, right? Because traditionally it is something eaten on a cold day. to warm you up and as you say it's a hug at a meal you know it's a way to feel comforted as you said absolutely absolutely right Charlie, thank you so much for joining me and talking to me about food and tea and in particular afternoon tea.

We'll definitely have to get together and do it together, yeah, yeah. I'll take you to Lady Dinah's crazy Captain. I'd love to go. I'd love to go. In fact, I saw it on the news and I remember thinking how wonderful. an idea that was so yeah, I'd love to do it, okay, we'll do it fantastic. Thank you all for joining me on today's podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. They can download the entire transcript and interact with it learning more English. vocabulary just use the link in the description until next time, take care and bye. If you are interested in improving your English and working on your pronunciation, why not check out my courses at www.

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