Файл: методическое пособие Базовый курс.doc

5. Projects: writing menus, giving information about what you would need to buy for a perfect meal, describing some exotic dishes, making a word grid, making a cookbook; writing essays: the national cuisine of Russia, the national cuisine of my favourite country, organizing a banquet, how to organize eating of your company’s staff and foreign partners.

Text A. British food.

Read the text and answer the questions:

Why do the British prefer buying ready-made meals from the shops?
When did the British become interested in fast food?
What international fast foods have spread to every corner of the British Isles?

British food has an image problem. Every other country seems to have an established national cuisine, and to be proud of it. India has curries, Italy has pizza and pasta, Turkey has kebabs, Germany has tasty sausages, China has all sorts of stir-fried delicacies. So what is Britain famous for? It used to be renowned for roast beef but even that has gone out of fashion.

The sad truth is that most of the British gave up cooking a long time ago and started buying ready-made meals from the shops. They love tins, tubes, packets and frozen foods of all kinds.

One children’s favourite is baked beans on toast. There is some logic in tinned beans, as cooking beans at home takes a long time. Rather stranger is tinned spaghetti, another kid’s classic. Spaghetti really is better freshly cooked, but young people seem to be addicted to something in processed food.

Of course, convenience food is an international phenomenon, but it started earlier and has gone further in Britain than in most countries.

British food didn’t always suffer from an inferiority complex. If you go back to the time of Queen Elizabeth1 (1558-1603), people really knew how to eat and drink. Country houses had special herb gardens full of rosemary, thyme, parsley, garlic, fennel and basil. (These herbs were very important as they were used in medicine as well as in cooking.) Chefs used to travel around Europe to get new ideas and ingredients.

The reign of Elizabeth1 was also the time when British explorers sailed all over the world. They brought back all sorts of exotic foods: rice and tea from China, spices such as cumin and cardamon from India, coffee and dates from Arabia. In the Americas they found tomatoes, maize, peanuts, pineapples, sugar cane, hot chillis and vanilla.

Perhaps the most important American vegetable is the potato, but there is a mistery about when it came to Europe, and who brought it there. The British claim it was the Elizabethan explorer, Sir Walter Raleigh, around 1585. In the town of Offenburg in Baden, Germany, there is a monument to another English sea captain, Sir Francis Drake, with the inscription:”…introducer of the potato into Europe in the year of our Lord 1580.” In fact, it originates in Peru, and it was probably introduced by the Spanish. Whoever it was deserves a big thank-you. What would the British do without mashed, boiled and roast potato, chips and crisps?

In the past, without cookbooks and TV programmes, women learnt from their mothers and grandmothers; and spent hours every day in the kitchen. But then, around the end of the 18^th century, life in Britain changed dramatically. The industrial revolution took families from farms in the country, and put them into small houses in crowded, new cities like Manchester and Birmingham. Men and women ( and often children, too) worked long hours in factories. So they no longer had the time or the energy to cook properly at home.

There was already an interest in fast food. In 1762, the Earl of Sandwich had invented a snack consisting of two pieces of bread and something in the middle. He was a keen card-player and didn’t like wasting time on meals. Sandwiches became popular with busy working people. So did fried fish and bread, and in 1870 a French invention caught on in Britain- pommes de terre à la mode. Under the new term ‘chips’, they were very popular indeed, and fish ‘n’ chips became Britain’s first great fast-food classic.

It is still a big favourite, but now has a lot of competition from those thoroughly international fast foods- pizzas and hamburgers. As in the rest of the world, American giants like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut have spread to every corner of the British Isles. If you are in this country, why not take a break from burgers at least once and try fish ‘n’ chips? It is very simple food, but quite healthy (the fish comes straight from the Atlantic Ocean), and very filling.

Notes.

delicacy -лакомство, деликатес

to stir -размешивать, помешивать

to fry -жарить

tube -тюбик

to bake -печь, запекать

bean -боб

convenience foods -пищевые полуфабрикаты для быстрого приготовления (консервированные, быстрозамороженные)

spices -специи, пряности

garlic -чеснок

chilli -красный стручковый перец

coriander -кориандр

ginger -имбирь

cumin -тмин

curry -карри(острая приправа)

rosemary -розмарин

thyme -тимьян

parsley -петрушка

fennel -фенхель, сладкий укроп

basil -базилик

cardamom -кардамон

date -финик

sugar cane -сахарный тростник

maize -кукуруза, маис

to claim -утверждать

inscription -надпись

to deserve -заслуживать, быть достойным

earl -граф

keen -страстный

True or false?

Britain used to be renowned for tasty sausages.
In Britain children prefer freshly cooked dishes.
Most of the British gave up cooking a long time ago.
The British love tins, tubes, packets and frozen foods of all kinds.
In the times of Queen Elizabeth 1 chefs used to travel around India to get new ideas and ingredients.
The British are not interested in fast food at all.
Fish ‘n’ chips became Britain’s first great fast-food classic.
One can’t find McDonald’s and Pizza Hut in the British Isles.

Make up your own sentences using the following words:

Cuisine, food, ready-made meal, fast food, chef.

Text B. National restaurants.

In the 20^th century lots of people came to the UK from the colonies and ex-colonies: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, from West Africa and the Caribbean, from Hong Kong and the Greek-Turkish island of Cyprus. There were already many other immigrants living in Britain, especially Irish, Jews and Italians. All these people brought with them their own ways of eating, and they did not simply give them up on arrival in their new home. Far from it. Immigrants are usually keen to preserve their own traditions, and food is one of the most powerful parts of a culture. You may stop wearing the traditional clothes, you may forget your music, your language, even your religion, but when you see and smell a dish that your grandmother used to make, you are suddenly a member of the community again.

Some of these newcomers realized that there was a niche in the market for new and exciting food, so they opened restaurants. The British diet was transformed from a dull menu of boiled vegetables and roast meat to a fantastic mix of international delicacies!

Indian restaurants. The British use the general term Indian although many, if not most, of the restaurants are actually Pakistani; others are Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan. The general term curry is used to describe a wide range of different dishes; what they have in common are strong colours, smells and flavours. Spices and herbs are the essence of Indian cooking: garlic, chillies, coriander, ginger, cumin and many others. In fact, Indian food is totally different from traditional British food- and yet it has become massively popular. In Britain there are more Indian restaurants than any other type. They are not only in the big cities- you will find one in almost every small town. Curry is now officially the country’s most popular restaurant dish, having overtaken the traditional fish ’n’ chips! More than two million British people go out for an Indian meal each week. Add to that the millions of ready-made Indian meals which are bought in supermarkets and taken home to the microwave-and all the Indian-style meals that the British now cook themselves, with varying degrees of success!

Italian restaurants. Children in Britain grow up eating spaghetti, and take away pizza is one of the top fast foods. But there is another reason why Italian restaurants have a special place in the history of food in Britain. There has been an Italian community there for more than 100 years, and Italian coffee bars and restaurants in the 1950s and 1960s gave the British their first introduction to foreign food. Once their natural conservatism had been broken down by a cappuccino and a plate of lasagne, Londoners were ready to experiment. Soon the whole country was enjoying the food of Italy.

Chinese restaurants. Chinese restaurant menus often have more than 100 different dishes on them. There are several reasons for this. Chinese history goes back a long way, and ancestors and traditions are very important; so the old ways- and the old recipes- are not forgotten. Also, China is a very big country, with distinct regions such as Beijing, Szechuan and Guangzhou, each having its own cuisine. But most important is the Chinese way of eating: they like lots of different, small dishes at a meal rather then one or two big ones. Meat, fish, chicken and vegetables are often stir-fried in a wok: cooked quickly without much oil. The results are fresh and delicious, and should be eaten immediately. (Take away Chinese food is often very disappointing- it loses that all-important freshness).

Greek restaurants. There are a lot of Greeks in Britain, but actually not many come from Greece. Most are from the island of Cyprus, which used to be British. Their most typical dish, the kebab( meat and salad in an envelope of hot pitta bread), is perfect for eating in the street: that is why there are so many Greek and Turkish take away restaurants. But the Greeks are also famous for creating an atmosphere in their restaurants, with bouzouki music and traditional dancing, sometimes on the tables. Greek food has really caught on in Britain. In every supermarket you will find hummus, taramasalata, Greek yoghurt and pitta bread.

Notes.

essence -сущность

to overtake -догонять, перегонять что-либо

wok -котелок с выпуклым днищем

bouzouki -греческая гитара

to catch on in Britain -стать модным, привиться в Британии

True or false?

Immigrants from Italy, China, India, Cyprus and Pakistan gave their own ways of eating up on arrival in their new home.
Food is the least powerful part of culture.
The British diet was transformed to a fantastic mix of international delicacies.
In Britain there are more Italian restaurants than any other type.
The British buy millions of ready-made Indian meals.
Chinese restaurants gave the British their first introduction to foreign food.
The Chinese like lots of different, small dishes at a meal.
Children in Britain grow up eating Italian hummus and taramasalata.

Make up some sentences using the following words:

Market, restaurant, menu, spices, recipe.

Dialogue 1 At the restaurant.

Listen to the conversation in the restaurant.(Tapescript 4-1).

Waiter: Are you ready to order, sir?

Man: Yes, I think so. Darling?

Woman: I’ll have the vegetable soup to start…

Waiter: The vegetable soup. And to follow, madam?

Woman: The salmon with a salad.

Waiter: And for you, sir?

Man: I’ll have the vegetable soup too, please.

Waiter: Two vegetable soups.

Man: And I’ll have a steak, I think.

Waiter: How would you like it, sir? Rare, medium or well done?

Man: Very rare- blue if you can.

Waiter: Thank you very much, sir. Would you like to see the wine list?

Dialogue 2 Preparing for a dinner party.

Listen to the conversation(tapescript 4-2).

Two friends, Ben and Sam, are going to give a dinner party for their girlfriends.

-Now, have we got everything we need?

-Well, let's see. There are some onions and potatoes, but there aren't any mushrooms and, of course, there isn't any minced beef.

-Are there any carrots?

-A few. But we don't need many, so that's OK.

-How much milk is there?

-Only a little. And there isn't any butter, and we haven't got much cheese.

-Well, we don't need much cheese. Is there anything else?

-No, not for Shepherd's Pie. We've got some salt and pepper, and there's a lot of flour. Would you like to help me with the shopping?

-Yes, please.

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Файл: методическое пособие Базовый курс.doc

8. Read this conversation in the hotel and put the lines in the correct order.

9. Ben is going to take his driving test soon. Complete the conversation with the correct form of have to or can.

10. Put the verbs in the box into the correct category.

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