In Britain traditionally like to live in

houses.

The number of people owning their

own houses is steadily rising in Britain

though a house is expensive. A person

does not usually need to have all the

money himself to pay for the house. Most

people buy their homes with a mortgage

which they get from a bank or a building

society.

Public Housing. About one third of the population now live in council houses.

These houses are provided by local authority councils such as town councils, usually

at a low rent. Such houses are mainly occupied by working-class people who cannot

afford to buy a house.

Since 1980 it has become possible for council house tenants to buy their

houses at favourable rates after they have lived in them for at least two years.

BRITISH FOOD

We may live without poetry, music and art:

We may live without conscience, and live without heart:

We may live without friends;

We may live without books:

But civilized man cannot live without cooks.

Owen Meredith

Foreigners often say that food in

Britain is uninteresting and plain, nothing

fancy; that it lacks originality and

excellence. But British food is not as bad

as some people think, especially if it is

cooked in the home, where it is possible

to time the dishes to perfection.

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There are four meals a day in an English home: breakfast, lunch, tea, and

dinner.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 o'clock in the morning,

and consists of porridge with milk and salt or sugar, eggs-boiled or fried, bacon,

sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, bread and butter with marmalade or jam. Some

people like to drink tea, but other prefer coffee. Instead of porridge they may have

fruit juice, or they may prefer biscuits.

The usual time for lunch is 1 o'clock. This meal starts with soup or fruit juice.

Then follows roast beef with vegetables and gravy or poultry with potatoes - boiled

or fried, carrots and beans. Then a pudding comes. Instead of the pudding they may

prefer cheese and biscuits. Last of all coffee - black or white. Englishmen often drink

something at lunch. Water is usually on the table. Some prefer juice or lemonade.

Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 o'clock, the so-called 5

o'clock tea. On the table there is tea, milk or cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes.

Friends and visitors are often present at tea.

Dinner is the fourth meal of the day. The usual time is about 7 o'clock, and all

the members of the family sit down together.

Dinner usually consists of soup, fish or meat with vegetables - potatoes, green

beans, carrot and cabbage, sweet pudding, fruit salad, ice-cream or cheese and

biscuits. Then after a talk they have black or white coffee.

This is the order of meals among English families, but the greater part of the

people in the towns, and nearly all country-people, have dinner in the middle of the

day instead of lunch. They have tea a little later -between 5 and 6 o'clock, and then in

the evening, before going to bed, they have supper.

If you want to have a meal outside your home you can visit such place as ‘fish

and chips shop’. Fish and chips is a popular and relatively inexpensive British dish. It

consists of plaice or cod fried in batter and is served hot with fried, chipped potatoes.

More and more people in Britain now buy hot food from a ‘take-away’ and eat it at

home. Fast food shops have become very popular. The most common take-away

meals are fish and chips, hamburgers, and Chinese foods.

There are also thousands of pubs in Britain. These are alehouses, where

working men meet in the evening to drink beer; inns, where travelers can stop, rest

and stay overnight. Pub is a public place and at the same time it is rather like

someone’s house, where people meet, speak with each other, play games and listen to

music. The most common drink served in a pub is beer (ale, bitter, stout or lager), but

you can also have wine, cocktails, spirits and soft drinks. If you are hungry you can

order food.

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