Lesson 5. International cuisine

Warm up.

I. Do you know any typical meals from the following countries?

France England Italy

India Spain Mexico

Turkey America Greece

II. What do you think influences a country’s food? What influences the food in your country?

Reading

I. Skim the text to grasp the general idea.

British and Russian Cuisine

Visitors to Britain generally agree about one thing–British cooking. “It’s terrible!” they say. You can cook vegetables in so many interesting ways. But the British cook vegetables for too long, so they lose their taste. These visitors eat in the wrong places. The best British cooking is in good restaurants and hotels, or at home.

British tastes have changed a lot over the past twenty years. In 1988 the national average for each person was 352 grams of “red” meat each week, but now it’s less than 259 grams. People prefer chicken and fresh fish. And more people are interested in healthy eating these days. In 1988 the national average was 905 grams of fruit and fruit juices each week, but now it’s nearly 2,000 grams.

The British have a “sweet tooth”. They love cakes, chocolates and sweets.

Today many people want food to be quick and easy. When both parents are working, they cannot cook large meals in the evenings. “Ready-made” meals from supermarkets and Marks and Spencer and “take-away” meals from fast food restaurants are very popular. If you are feeling tired or lazy, you can even phone a local restaurant. They will bring the food to your house.

Twenty years ago, British people usually ate at home. They only went out for a meal at special times, like for somebody’s birthday. But today, many people eat out at least once a week.

In the past, traditional steakhouses were very popular places, but now many people prefer foreign food. Every British town has Indian and Chinese restaurants and large towns have restaurants from many other countries too.

Pubs are also very popular. There are over 60,000 pubs in the UK (53,200 in England and Wales, 5,200 in Scotland and 1,600 in Northern Ireland). British people drink an average of 99.4 litres of beer every year. Mote than 80% of this beer is drunk in pubs and clubs.

Russian cooking is rather simple, leisurely, relaxed affair. The special peculiarity of traditional Russian cuisine is mainly in the freshness of the ingredients, simplicity of cooking methods and restraint with almost the only spices found in a typical Russian kitchen. Living in Russia one cannot but stick to a Russian diet. Keeping this diet for an Englishman is fatal. The Russians have meals four times a day and their cuisine is quite intricate.

Every person starts his or her day with breakfast. Poor English­men are sentenced to either a continental or an English breakfast. From the Russian point of view, when one has it continental it ac­tually means that one has no breakfast at all, because it means drinking a cup of coffee and eating a bun. A month of continental breakfasts for some Russians would mean starving. The English breakfast is a bit better, as it consists of one or two fried eggs, grilled sausages, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. The English have tea with milk and toast with butter and marmalade. As a choice one may have corn flakes with milk and sugar or porridge.

In Russia people may have anything for breakfast. Some good-humoured individuals even prefer soup, but, of course, sandwiches and coffee are very popular. One can easily understand that in Great Britain by one o'clock people are very much ready for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day. That would be music for a Russian's ears until he or she learns what lunch really consists of. It may be a meat or fish course with soft drinks followed by a sweet course.

The heart of a Russian person fills with joy when the hands of the clock approach three o'clock. His or her dinner includes three courses. A Russian will have a starter (salad, herring, cheese, etc.), soup, steaks, chops, or fish fillets with garnish, a lot of bread, of course, and something to drink. The more the better. At four or five the Russians may have a bite: waffles, cakes with juice, tea, cocoa, or something of the kind.

In Great Britain they have dinner at five or six. Soup may be served then, but one should not be misled by the word "soup". British soup is just thin paste and a portion is three times smaller than in Russia. A lot of British prefer to eat out. "Fish and Chips" shops are very popular with their take-away food. The more sophisticated public goes to Chinese, Italian, seafood or other restaurants and ex­periments with shrimp, inedible vegetables and hot drinks.

Supper in Russia means one more big meal at seven. The table groans with food again. In England it is just a small snack –a glass of milk with biscuits at ten.

Most Russians have never counted calories and they are deeply convinced that their food is healthy. Some housewives may admit that it takes some time to prepare all the stuff, including pickles, home-made preserves and traditional Russian pies and pancakes. They boil, fry, roast, grill, broil, bake and make.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

Reading comprehension

I. In the text find the English equivalents to the following words and word combinations. Explain the following words in English. Use English-English dictionary if necessary. Make up your own sentences with these words.

потерять вкус, быть сладкоежкой, особенность русской кухни, здоровое питание, полуфабрикаты, специи, ограничение, быть ужасно голодным, стрелки часов, придерживаться диеты, закуска, гарнир, перекусить, считать калории, вафли, блины.