Eating in England

Foreign people always criticize English food. “It is unimaginative,” they say. “It is boring, it is tasteless, and it is chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables.” But it is not quite true.

English basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that English people haven't had to invent sauces and complex recipes to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled not over boiled and served with butter? Why to drown spring lamb in wine or cream or yoghurt and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?

It is interesting to speculate what such factors as geography and climate play in the creation of a country's food. English people complain about their wet and changeable weather, but it is the rain which gives them their rich soil and green grass. Abroad poor soils meant more searching for food, more discovery, more invention, whereas English ancestors sat down to plenty without having to take trouble.

English food has traditionally been based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish and generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable. The most common and typical foods eaten in England include the sandwich, fish and chips, pies, trifle and roasts dinners. Some of their main dishes have strange names like Bubble & Squeak ¹ and Toad-in-the-Hole ².

What may appear strange to the overseas visitors is that not all their puddings are sweet puddings, some are eaten during the starter or main course like Yorkshire Pudding ³ and Black Pudding ⁴.

English cheeses deserve to be better known than they are. Cheeses of many different kinds have been made in Britain for over 800 years. Some of them are still popular today. The 'king' of cheeses is Stilton. English favourites are also Cheddar, Cheshire and Lancashire cheeses. There are many other enjoyable dishes which can please even a demanding eater.

It is currently estimated that there are between 3 and 4 million vegetarians in the UK, one of the highest percentages in the western world. Around 7 million people claim to eat no red meat. It is now rare to find no vegetarian foods in a supermarket or on a restaurant menu.

More and more people in Britain now buy hot food from a "take-away" (you buy the food at the restaurant and then bring it home to eat). More women go out to work and do not have the time or energy to prepare elaborate meals. Fast food shops have become very popular. The most common take-away meals in Britain are fish and chips, hamburgers, and Chinese foods. In many towns you will find Indian takeaways, Greek kebab takeaways, and Japanese takeaways. Eating in Britain is quite international!

_______________

¹ Bubble & Squeak (typically made from cold vegetables that have been left over from a previous meal) The chief ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables can be added. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potato until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides. The name is a description of the action and sound made during the cooking process.

² Toad-in-the-Hole - sausages covered in batter and roasted.

³ Yorkshire Pudding – made from flour, eggs and milk, is a sort of batter baked in the oven and usually moistened with gravy.

⁴ Black Pudding (Blood Pudding) Looks like a black sausage. It is made from dried pigs blood and fat and is eaten at breakfast time. Black pudding recipes vary from region to region, some are more peppery and some are fattier than others.

3.Answer the questions.

1.What do foreign people say about English food?

2.Why aren’t there complex recipes in the English cuisine?

3.What has English food traditionally been based on?

4.What are the most common and typical foods eaten in England?

5.Are English puddings always sweet?

6.What cheeses are popular with the English people?

7.Are the many vegetarians in the UK?

8.Why do many people in Britain buy food from a ‘take-away’?

4.Eating out in Britain is very easy. There are many establishments which are worth visiting. Most nationalities with a reputation for cuisine are represented here. You can choose any restaurant to your liking – classical French, Italian, Japanese, Greek, Mexican …

a)So, would you like to take a bite? No problem. But first remember the following useful phrases.

v I'm starving. - Я помираю з голоду.

v I could eat a horse! - Я страшенно зголоднів (готовий з’їсти слона).

v I'm just a bit peckish. - Я дещо зголоднів.

v greasy spoon - закусочна

v nosh - розм. їжа нашвидкуруч, закуска

v pub grub - їжа, яку можна замовити у пабі

v The food was fusion. - Меню було змішаним.

v I would prefer an Indian / ruby. - Я б віддав перевагу гострій індійській їжі.

v a good fry up / full English breakfast – класичний англійський сніданок (обсмажені на пательні або грилі бекон, яйця, сосиски, помідори, гриби, квасоля та ін.)

v starter - закуска

v main course - основні страви

v dessert - десерт

v Service not included - така фраза в рахунку передбачає, що до зазначеної суми слід додати чайові

v That hit the spot! - тут. Я вгамував голод.

v I'm absolutely stuffed! - Я наївся вдосталь.

v I'm full! - Я ситий!

v I couldn't eat another thing if I tried! - Я об’ївся (більше не лізе).

v I have eaten too much. - Я об’ївся.

b)Make up dialogues using the phrases above.

5.At the restaurant you will have a starter, a main course and a dessert. The starter includes a vegetable, tomato or chicken soup, prawn cocktail, melon and ham or fruit juice. Main courses give a choice of casseroled chicken, roast beef, fish pie served with new potatoes and fresh vegetables. Dessert may include a chocolate cake, an apple pie with cream or ice-cream.

a) Read the following dialogue between a customer and a waiter.