2. Study the context in which the words dish, cooking, speciality/ specialty, diet and recipe are used. Make up your own sentences with them.

Dish

This dish can be eaten hot or cold.

Paella is one of my favourite Spanish dishes.

In Korea, the national dish is kimchi, which is a type of pickled cabbage.

Cooking (cuisine)

I like my mom’s home cooking the best.

I bought a book on Italian cooking.

Speciality (Br)/ specialty (Am)

The village is famous for its seafood specialities.

Fish curry is a local specialty.

Delicacy

Shark fins are a delicacy in many Asian countries.

We ordered several small dishes of Turkish delicacies.

Diet

The doctor said there was not enough fibre in my diet.

Her diet consists mainly of hamburgers, crisps and fizzy drinks.

Kevin lived on a diet of peanut butter sandwiches.

If you eat a healthy diet, you don’t need to take extra vitamins.

A balanced diet is a diet which includes a variety of different healthy foods in the right amounts.

A low-fat diet is a diet when you only eat foods without much fat.

Recipe

Where can I get the recipe from?

2. Work in groups. Make lists of healthy and unhealthy food. Which of it do you eat? Which of it do you never eat? Why?

2. Discuss the questions with a partner. Write a brief report.

• What is your usual diet?

• What do you eat that’s good/ not good for you?

• When you were at school, what food did you eat for lunch? Were school meals healthy?

7. A) Read and translate the two texts. British eating habits

One of the most famous English dishes is fish and chips. Traditionally, people go to fish and chip shops where the food is served wrapped in paper, and they take the food away to eat either in the street or at home. It’s usual to have a lot of salt and vinegar with fish and chips.

But if you ask an English person what their favourite food is, lots of people would now say curry, which has almost become England’s national dish. Italian, Chinese and Thai cooking are also very popular, and in the big cities you can eat food from just about anywhere in the world.

Some people think that the English start their day with a “full English breakfast” of bacon, eggs, mushrooms and fried bread. In fact, people are much more likely just to have cereal or toast.

Japan

The Japanese diet is very healthy, and it is not surprising that Japanese people live longer than almost anyone else in the world. Japanese dishes are usually low in fat, and therefore very good for you. For example, “sushi” has almost no fat at all, and consists of raw fish or vegetables on boiled rice.

Japanese meals often include rice, pickled vegetables, and a bowl of “miso soup”, which is made using soy bean paste.

“Soba” (a type of noodle) is often eaten as a kind of fast food. People eat it quickly in noodle bars.

2. Answer the questions.

1. What is the most famous English dish? How is it served?

2. What is the favourite food of an English person? Why?

3. What is one of the reasons why Japanese people live longer than other nations?

4. What are some of traditional Japanese dishes? Have you ever tried any of them?

5. What are most famous traditional dishes in Russia?

6. What is your favourite national cuisine? Why? What dishes do you like?