Conley & silvers presents

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée
A Leisurely Amble through British Culture

What makes the British so bonkers? If you are what you eat, perhaps that explains it: this is a nation that happily consumes concentrated yeast on toast, cream you could use as wallpaper paste, something called 'bubble and squeak’, boiled eggs wrapped in pork mince and desserts made of old bread and butter, say, or smashed bits of meringue, over-ripe strawberries and yup, wallpaper-paste cream. Calorie count: infinity and beyond. YUM.

On the other hand, perhaps it is our class system, that famously rigid stratification of citizens, once allegedly evident in accents, clothes and general behaviour, which is so different from that of the Swiss, the Singaporeans - or the Cape Verde islanders, for that matter. Or is that a load of rubbish now our food is all straightened out and nobody knows what class they are?

Whichever, here’s a chance to investigate the history of class, food, tea versus coffee and the British love for animals (I write as the country goes into mourning for the demise of Cuthbert the Goose from Devizes, Devon - TikTok star, worldwide celebrity and now an ex-goose). Did they form us, or do they reflect us? And what, precisely, is a glottal stop?

Past Tours

Featured

Jan 31

Upper Crust: The Great British Fake Off with Sophie Campbell

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (4/4)
Sunday, January 31st at 4pm Eastern Time

Get your aprons and join British cookery expert Sophie “Straw” Berry with guest epicureans Adam “Tea for” Tooze, Tim “Jammy” Jepson and Julian “Bakeoff” Brown for a deeply serious discussion on the history and economic significance of the British afternoon tea.

This will include when to put in the milk, why American-English muffins differ from English-English muffins, the great Marmite vs Gentleman's Relish debate and whether to put jam (not jelly) or cream on first when eating scones, which could get very ugly.

And you are not just spectators at the feast - oh no, no. You are invited to join in with our very own C&S Soiree Scone-Off. Chef-Patron Strawberry will conduct the messy bit and as the scones brown in ovens on either side of the Atlantic the debate will begin.

Ingredients: flour, butter, milk, caster sugar, vanilla essence, jam, cream and YOU!

Jan 28

Upper Crust: The Great British Tea Off with Sophie Campbell

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (3/4)
Thursday, January 28th at 5pm Eastern Time

How did an entire nation become fixated on a drink that no other nation either liked or drank in the same way? How did strong Indian tea become the driver of a nation and has coffee really usurped its position as the nation's favourite? Who puts the milk in first? Not to mention where did the cakes come from, who invented the cucumber sandwich and what exactly is Gentleman's Relish? This is your chance to find out.

Jan 21

Upper Crust: A Tiptoe Through the British Class System with Sophie Campbell

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (2/4)
Thursday, January 21st at 5pm Eastern Time

You could call this treading on eggshells, because it makes Brits really nervous, especially if they are with people they don't know. But it's time to examine the evidence and work out what makes somebody posh: we'll go right back to the 1066 invasion by the Norman French and work our way forward using clothing, accents, eating habits, furniture names and pronunciation as our guide. Cheers, dears!

Jan 14

Upper Crust: Food (Not So) Glorious Food with Sophie Campbell

Upper Crust Virtual Soirée (1/4)
Thursday, January 14th at 5pm Eastern Time

The rollercoaster ride of English food: the pleasure, the pain, the politics... We'll look at the original English diet, the arrival and subsequent disappearance of olive oil, the philosophical battle of food v fuel and, brace yourselves, THE 1970s, the great nadir, followed by a slow and uphill struggle to present glory in London, if not all the regions.

Sophie Campbell

Sophie Campbell is a travel writer and London Blue Badge tour guide. She was brought up in Asia and Africa and has been based in London for the past 25 years, writing for many national publications. She writes a monthly column for the travel pages of the Daily Telegraph and guides many incoming journalists and corporate clients on their visits to London.

Her book, The Season, details her summer whirl through the English social season – think big hats, camping in queues and royal regattas.

How to Join us

Our flat rate payment system guarantees our guides a predictable income, and most importantly adds convenience for you! There are several ways to take part outlined below, but in brief:

You can enroll in a C&S Membership to attend our programs this winter for one flat rate, complete with perks & good karma.
You can purchase a “Virtual Soirée Passport” to attend a specific series of talks (example: our Upper Crust Virtual Soirée is comprised of 4 talks in total)
You can book each “tour” (a single talk) individually.

In the spirit of inclusivity that we have treasured in our virtual programming so far, we are offering one complimentary virtual tour to any curious guest. Just select an individual tour for purchase and use the code WINTERESCAPE at checkout.