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British Traditional Foods

Eating in Britain

The

staple foods of Britain are meat, fish, potatoes, flour, butter and eggs. Many of British dishes are based on these foods.

These three platefuls of food were served up in a pub. I would say that they are enormous portions and not what a typical British person would eat in one sitting: Steak and Kidney Pie with chips and salad Cornish Pastie with chips, baked beans and salad Chicken Salad

Cottage

Pie (made with minced beef and vegetables topped with mashed potato. Pie and Cottage Pie are very similar. Shepherd's Pie is made from lamb whereas Cottage Pie uses beef.

Shepherd's

Public

Houses (Pubs)

The word pub is short for public house. There are over 60,000 pubs in the UK (53,000 in England and Wales, 5,200 in Scotland and 1,600 in Northern Ireland). One of the oldest pubs, Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, Herts, is located in a building that dates back to the eleventh century.
Pubs

Pubs are an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there.

have traditional names which date back over 600 years. Some typical names are The Chequers, The White Swan, The Crown, The King's Arms, The Red Lion and The White Horse. People often refer to the pub by its name when giving directions: Turn left at the Rose and Crown. There is usually a sign outside the pub showing the pub's name with a picture.

In British schools, children can usually choose between a hot or cold dinner provided by the school or a packed lunch taken from home. Some children are entitled to a free school dinner, but most children pay for theirs. Lunch break is from 12.15 at noon to 1.15 p.m. and children may have a school meal or bring a packed lunch. School lunches are priced at 1.60

Pasta

twirls Mince beef Lasagna

MEALS and MEAL TIMES

Some people have their biggest meal in the middle of the day and some have it in the evening, but most people today have a small mid-day meal - usually sandwiches, and perhaps some crisps and some fruit. British have three main meals a day: Breakfast - between 7:00 and 9:00, Lunch - between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m. Dinner (sometimes called Supper) - The main meal, eaten anytime between 6:30 and 8:00 p.m. (Evening meal) Traditionally, and for some people still, the meals are called: Breakfast - between 7:00 and 9:00, Dinner (The main meal) - between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m. Tea - anywhere from 5:30 at night to 6:30 p.m.

BREAKFAST
Most people around the world seem to think a typical English breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, mushrooms and baked beans all washed down with a cup of coffee. Nowadays, however, a typical English breakfast is more likely to be a bowl of cereals, a slice of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee. The Traditional English Breakfast without the fried bread. The traditional English breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, baked beans and mushrooms. Even though not many people eat this for breakfast today, it is always served in hotels and guest houses around Britain. The traditional English breakfast is called the Full English and sometimes referred to as The Full English Fry-up. Many people, especially children, in England eat a bowl of cereal. They are made with different grains such as corn, wheat, oats etc. In winter many people eat "porridge" or boiled oats.

LUNCH
What

is a typical English lunch? Many children at school and adults at work will have a 'packed lunch'. This typically consists of a sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink. The 'packed lunch' is kept in a plastic container. Sandwiches are also known as a butty or sarnie in some parts of the UK.

DINNER

The evening meal is usually called 'tea', 'dinner' or 'supper'. What is a traditional English Dinner? A typical British meal for dinner is meat and "two veg". We put hot brown gravy, traditionally made from the juices of the roast meat (but more often today from a packet!) on the meat and usually the vegetables. One of the vegetables is almost always potatoes. This traditional meal is rarely eaten nowadays, a recent survey found that most people in Britain eat curry! Rice or pasta are now favoured as the 'British Dinner'.

TEA

Tea in Britain is traditionally brewed in a warmed China teapot, adding one spoonful of tea per person and one for the pot. Most Britons like their tea strong and dark, but with a lot of milk. Years ago, the milk was poured into the cup first, so as not to crack the porcelain. The traditional way of making tea is: Boil some fresh cold water. (use an electric kettle to boil water) Put some hot water into the teapot to make it warm. Pour the water away Put one teaspoon of tea-leaves per person, and one extra tea-spoon, into the pot. Pour boiling water onto the tea. Leave for a few minutes. Serve

AFTERNOON TEA

AFTERNOON TEA (The traditional 4 o'clock tea) This is a small meal, not a drink. Traditionally it consists of Tea (or coffee) served with either of the following: Freshly baked scones served with cream and jam (Known as a cream tea) Afternoon tea sandwiches - thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Assorted pastries

HIGH TEA

HIGH TEA (The traditional 6 o'clock tea) The British working population did not have Afternoon Tea. They had a meal about midday, and a meal after work, between five and seven o'clock. This meal was called 'high tea' or just 'tea'. (Today, most people refer to the evening meal as dinner or supper.) Traditionally eaten early evening, High tea was a substantial meal that combined delicious sweet foods, such as scones, cakes, buns or tea breads, with tempting savouries, such as cheese on toast, toasted crumpets, cold meats and pickles or poached eggs on toast. This meal is now often replaced with a supper due to people eating their main meal in the evenings rather than at midday.

Did you know?


If someone asks you if you would like a cuppa, they are asking if you would like a cup of tea. If someone says 'let me be mother' or 'shall I be mother', they are offering to pour out the tea from the teapot. Tea Words and phrases Tea break, High tea, tea time, tea party, tea towel and many more terms have derived from the tradition of drinking tea. Tea breaks are when tea and biscuits are served. The traditional time for tea breaks are at 11:00 am (Elevensee) and 4 pm in the afternoon. If something is not quite to your taste, its probably not your cup of tea.

Traditional Foods of Scotland and Wales Scotland


Scotland

is famous for its game and salmon, the national dish is haggis and neeps (innards and offal chopped up with spices and cooked in a sheep's stomach, served with mashed turnip). Glasgow is the home of the deep-fried Mars bar.

Wales
Traditional Welsh foods include: Laverbread - It's basically boiled seaweed (Laver is a kind of edible seaweed). Laverbread is often served rolled with fine Welsh oatmeal into little cakes and fried into crisp patties with eggs, bacon and cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast. Bara Brith - A rich cake Welsh Rarebit - melted cheese on toast.

Take away food in England


Take-away

meals are very popular and most towns have a selection of Indian, Italian, Chinese and Greek Restaurants. Fish and chips is the classic English take-away food and is the traditional national food of England. It became popular in the 1860's when railways began to bring fresh fish straight from the east coast to the cities over night.

Fish (cod, haddock, plaice) deep fried in flour batter with chips (fried potatoes) dressed in malt vinegar. This is England's traditional take-away food or as US would say "to go". Fish and chips are not normally home cooked but bought at a fish and chip shop ("chippie" ) to eat on premises or as a "take away"

The fish (cod, haddock, plaice) is deep fried in flour batter and is eaten with chips. Traditionally, the fish and chips are covered with salt and malt vinegar and, using your fingers, eaten straight out of the newspaper which they were wrapped in. Now-adays small wooden forks are provided and the fish and chips are wrapped in more hygienic paper. In the north of England, fish and chips is often served with "mushy peas" (mashed processed peas).

What food was "invented" or discovered in England?

1762: The sandwich was invented in England. We have a town named Sandwich in the south of England. John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich invented a small meal that could be eaten with one hand while he continued his nonstop gambling.

1902:

Marmite was invented in England. Marmite is dark brown-coloured savoury spread made from the yeast that is a byproduct of the brewing industry. It has a very strong, slightly salty flavour. It is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it type of food.

Did

you like? Lets go in England to taste the delicious food I ve told you about!

Grupul

colar Tehnologic Ion Mincu , Tg-Jiu

the

9th E grade

Iulia

Nnu, Teacher of English 2007

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