18 Read the following texts about English food and answer the questions.

-English food is very simple. Beef, pork, and lamb are common meats. People often roast or boil potatoes. The English use fewer spices than other Europeans.

Names of dishes often tell what part of England they come from. A Cornish pasty is a flaky crust filled with meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Yorkshire pudding is a batter cake baked in meat fats. Lancaster hot pot is a lamb, oyster and vegetable stew.

The English also enjoy other popular foods. “Fish and chips” is their favorite dish. Shepherd’s pie is a casserole made of ground beef and mashed potatoes. The English eat biscuits and tea anytime.

Plum pudding is England’s most famous dessert. A cook covers this dish with brandy and lights it on fire. The fire burns the sugar on the surface to make a sweet crust.

a) What are common meats in England?

b) What is Yorkshire pudding?

c) What dish is served with lighted brandy?

d) Do the English use spices?

- Food from practically every country on Earth can be found in restaurants around England. Immigrants from India, China, and other nations brought cuisines from their home countries. The English quickly learned to love these foods, with their different spices and textures.

Fast food is a tradition in England. Long before McDonald’s and Burger King became widespread, the English bought quick meals at fish-and-chips shops.

Traditionally, the English upper class ate five meals a day: breakfast, tea or coffee at eleven, lunch, afternoon tea, and finally dinner late in the evening. Middle- and working-class people were likely to have fewer meals. For many people, afternoon tea gradually turned into a full supper, and the late formal dinner became a thing of the past.

Years ago, the English tended to eat large breakfast of bacon or ham, eggs, breads, and perhaps a fish such as smoked herring. Today, “English breakfasts” tend to be found only in tourist hotels. Native English people typically eat smaller breakfasts.

a) How many meals did English upper class have a day?

b) Is it the same now?

c) What foreign cuisines came to England?

d) What did typical English breakfast consist of?

19 In groups of four match the words with the definitions. Use a dictionary.

	bacon		a flat cake made of thin batter and cooked on both sides
	breakfast		a liquid food made by boiling meat, vegetables, or other foods in water
	cake		a mixture of mostly vegetables or fruits, usually served cool
	chips		a part of a bush or tree that can be eaten
	fruit		a pastry disk topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and usually meat or vegetables
	hamburger		a slice of beef
	juice		a sweet food made of flour, oil, eggs, and sugar and baked in an oven
	pancake		bread that is heated until it is brown and crisp
	pasta		food that is eaten between regular meals
	pie		foods made from flour paste, such as macaroni, spaghetti and ravioli
	pizza		fried or grilled ground beef on a bun
	salad		fruit or some other filling baked in a pastry shell
	sandwich		liquid from a fruit or vegetable
	snack		the morning meal
	soup		thin strips of salted, smoked pork
	steak		two slices of bread with meat or some other food between them
	toast		very thin pieces of fried potatoes

Take-home assignment