Psychological gastronomy high tea

Artisan at the Bolton Hotel hosts a great high tea. Their 2019 Wellington on a Plate event is Psychological gastronomy and described as "a not-so-traditional high tea" where savoury and sweet may not be as they seem. In fact, they're the complete opposite. Every item that appears savoury tastes sweet, and every item that looks like it should be sweet is savoury.

This was actually quite a challenge. Where do you begin? The high tea tradition of starting at the bottom savoury tier and working all the way up to the sweet finalé clearly wouldn't work here. We pondered the menu over coffee and a glass of Giesen Classic Cuveé.

Things are not how they appear

Here's how we played out our high tea strategy.

Savoury that looks sweet

• Duck pâté domes on sable biscuit
• Cheese profiterole
• Spinach and blue cheese cupcake with truffle icing
• Beetroot macaron with goat's cheese

Somewhere between savoury and sweet

• Compressed melon tartare with Chantilly cream

Savoury looking but actually sweet

• Brioche sandwich with chocolate and banana
• Rice pudding arancini with vanilla
• Chocolate pie
• 'Salmon' raspberry mousse with sweet blini and berry 'caviar'

This was a very fun high tea with a twist. The flavours were clever, delicious and beautifully presented. I hope Artisan holds another high tea event next year. We'll be there!