Exam. British National Cuisine

British National Cuisine 

1.Let’s talk about food. What do people eat in Britain?

I’d like to tell some words about British food. Traditionally English people have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the morning. It used to be a large meal with cereal, eggs and bacon, sausages, tomatoes. But such a large breakfast takes a long time to prepare- and is not very healthy. Nowadays, Britain's most popular breakfast consists of cereal, toast with marmalade, juice and yogurt with a cap of tea or coffee. Lunch is a light meal. Most people have no time to go back home for lunch so they eat at school, cafes, pubs or restaurants. The main meal is dinner, which is usually between 6 and 7 p.m. А typical evening meal is a meat dish with vegetables and dessert. The most important meal of the week is the Sunday dinner, which is usually eaten at 1 p.m. The traditional Sunday dish used to be roast beef, but nowadays pork, chicken or lamb are more common. On Sunday evenings people have supper or high tea. The famous British afternoon tea is becoming rare, except at weekends.

2.Do you like cooking? Why (not)?

It is true: I absolutely love cooking. I am not sure what it is, but when I am in the kitchen, I suddenly feel at home.

Firstly, everyone loves food. If you can make tasty recipes and dishes, then people think that you are awesome. This works especially well when you are hanging out with people that don’t know how to cook – they look at you like an absolute genius!

Secondly, I like to cook because I want to let others eat my cooking products. I want to see their face with a smile when they feel my dishes are tasty and good. I would feel happy when I see their smile and eating happily. Since those dishes are being cooked by my hard, heart and love. I hope that they can feel it.

Finally, some people say they can’t cook. But you know what? I don’t believe them. Cooking is EASY. Cooking delicious, tasty dishes is EASY. Why? There is this thing called recipes. It is fool-proof. If you follow a recipe, then you will inevitably make a nice dish.

3.What questions can you ask a British friend about their eating habits?

1. What food do people eat in Britain?

2. What national dishes would you recommend to taste in Britain?

3. What is your favourite national dish?

4. When do you eat your meals? 

5. What is the difference between supper, dinner and tea?

4.Do you know many recipes?

Frankly speaking I am not very fond of cooking but I can tell you how to prepare draniki. First you should peel some potatoes, then you should grate them, add an egg, some flour, some salt, mix everything and make little pancakes on a frying pan. Serve your draniki hot with sour cream or butter. Boa appetite!

To tell the truth I am not fond of cooking, it takes a lot of time, and I am not good at it. So I cannot say that I know a lot of recipes but I think that if I need some recipe I will be able to find it on the Internet.

 5.The British people are considered to be the world’s greatest tea drinkers. What do you know about this?

Tea is considered a small meal or a time of the day in Britain. It is one of those things that distinguishes life in Britain from life anywhere else. The average Briton over the age of 10 drinks three and a half cups of tea per day, or 1,355 cups per year – mostly tea with milk in it — which puts Britain miles ahead of any other country in the international league of tea-drinking nations! Second and third in the league are the New Zealanders (889 cups) and the Australians (642 cups).

 The popularity of tea in the United Kingdom has a long history. It was in 1657 that Thomas Garway, the owner of a coffee house, sold the first tea in London. The drink soon became popular as an alternative to coffee.

To the British, tea is important, tea is always offered to guest upon arrival to one’s home, tea is always offered in times of crises, and in times of celebration, at all times really. A cuppa is said to solve all problems. 

However, we can’t but mention, that all around Britain you can now see a lot of American coffee shops, like Costa Coffee and Starbucks. British people spend about 65 million pounds in coffee shops each year. Teenagers drink a lot of soft drinks instead of tea, coffee and milk. Bottled mineral water is common in British homes now.

References:

• Your English Exam Support: Подготовка к экзамену по английскому языку: пособие для учащихся учреждений общего среднего образования / [сост. Н.А. Сергиенко]. – Мозырь: Белый Ветер, 2015. – 97, [3] с.

• Conversation Questions

• Tea and the British