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Paul Sparks, Online Business English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas for
Grade 1 English Conversation Lessons at Xiangtan Normal University...
LESSON 16 - BRITISH
AND CHINESE FOOD, DISCUSSION
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this
lesson is to increase the students knowledge and understanding of food
related vocabulary through debate and discussion.
British
Food & Drink
In many European countries it is normal to have a long break in the middle
of the day when all members of the family return to their houses to eat
together. This is not very common in Britain because normally it is a long
way from the place of work or school to the home. Some British people tend
to have a big breakfast before they go to work and the meal at midday is
not spent with the members of the family but with workmates or
schoolmates. Lunch is normally eaten between 12.00 midday and 1pm or 1pm
to 2pm. Most people finish work at 5pm or 6pm. It often takes at least an
hour to get home from the school or workplace so people tend to eat their
evening meal or "dinner" between 6pm and 9pm.
Although everyone in
Britain understands that "breakfast" is the first meal of the
day. There is a lot of confusion about the words for other meals such as
"dinner, lunch, tea, high tea , elevenses, brunch, supper" and
if you ask a British person what these words mean, most of them will give
you a different answer according to what part of the country they are from
or from what social class they are from.
- Breakfast (Typically
between 7am - 9am)
- Mid-Morning Snack (10am
or 11am)
- Lunch (12:00 midday -
1pm or 1pm - 2pm)
- Afternoon Break (About
3pm)
- Dinner (Typically
between 6pm to 9pm)
- Supper (Before Bed)
Breakfast
Many British people
do not have breakfast, they prefer to have a cup of tea or coffee or a
glass of milk, then have a morning snack when they are at work. The
traditional English breakfast is a fried meal of eggs, bacon and sausages.
Most people now have either breakfast cereal or toast with jam or
marmalade. The most common cereal is cornflakes. They are made with
different grains such as corn, wheat, oats etc. If you go to a British
supermarket you will see that there are many types of cereals available.
In Scotland many people eat "porridge" or boiled oats. Porridge
is very heavy but in the winter it will keep you warm on your way to
school. Because most schools open at 9am children will normally have
breakfast at around 8am, depending upon their parents work schedules.
Mid Morning Snack
Workers in the UK
are entitled to a morning break under the British employment laws. The
break is normally around 20 minutes. Most people will have a cup of tea or
coffee, cola or Pepsi etc. with biscuits, crisps, chocolate bars etc.
However most employers will allow workers to have unlimited coffee or tea
breaks throughout the day whilst they work. The common name for the
morning break is "10 o'clocks" or "Elevensees".
Lunch
Workers in the UK
are entitled to a one hour lunch break. This is typically either 12:00
midday until 1pm, or 1pm until 2pm. Lunch is normally a snack, such as
sandwiches or microwave food, but may be a full meal. Elderly people tend
to have their biggest meal at lunchtime and a lighter meal in the evening.
Schools provide a meal for the students at lunch time. Many children and
some workers are given a "packed lunch" to eat for your midday
meal. Some factories and schools have canteens where you can eat but the
packed lunch is the most common thing to eat. A packed lunch normally
consist of some sandwiches, a packet of crisps, an apple and a can of
something to drink, for example, coca-cola. The contents are kept in a
plastic container and you take it with you when you go to school or work.
The quality of the packed lunch can vary from terrible to very good, it
all depends on who makes it. A popular food to eat at lunchtime which is
easy to prepare are "Baked Beans" which are beans cooked in a
tomato sauce. They come in cans and are normally eaten on toast. The British
are very fond of baked beans.
Afternoon Break
Mid afternoon
workers will have another break, with a cup of tea or coffee, or drinks of
cola, Pepsi etc.
Dinner
The meal in the evening is normally called Dinner, but may also be referred
to as Tea. Also some people will call the meal at lunchtime
"Dinner" if it is the biggest meal of the day. The evening meal
can be any time after 4pm, but is usually between 6pm and 9pm. Some
families may eat this meal together, however many families now eat the
meal in front of the television rather than sitting at a table. Things are
changing and most British people eat meals from many different countries
for example spaghetti or curry. In fact you could even say that the
British don't eat much British food. However the most typical thing to eat
for dinner is "meat and two veg". This consists of a piece of
meat accompanied by two different boiled vegetables. This is covered with
"gravy" which is a sauce made with the juice that was obtained
when the meat was cooked. One of the vegetables is almost always potatoes.
The British eat a lot of potatoes. At the end of dinner there is normally
a pudding or dessert, such as apple pie, ice cream or trifle.
Supper
A light snack before bed, normally only for elderly people, it was
traditional in Britain a number of years ago to eat supper.
Snacks
British people eat a lot of food in between meals, they will have many
snacks, including chocolate, crisps, soft drinks, tea, coffee, cakes,
biscuits etc. at any time of the day or night. Many people also enjoy a
midnight feast - they go to bed, then get up again for food.
On Sundays many people
don't have to work so they take the opportunity eat together with their
family. Sunday lunch is usually the best meal of the week and many of the
meals which are considered typically British are eaten for Sunday lunch.
For example roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Yorkshire pudding is a
batter made with flour, eggs and milk and cooked in the oven. This is most
often eaten with roast beef for Sunday lunch.
Pub Food
A Ploughman's Lunch is a very popular thing to eat if you go to eat in a
"pub" at midday. It normally consists of a bread roll with a
piece of cheese and a pickled onion. British cheeses are very good. The
most famous is Cheddar. Most of the cheeses are named after the region
from where they come from e.g.. Red Leicester, Cheshire etc. There is a
very good British blue cheese called Stilton although it can be rather
expensive.
Fast Food /
Takeaways
The
"Fish 'n' Chip" shop
A fish and chip shop (fish
'n' chips) is a shop which cooks fried potatoes called chips. They are
usually accompanied by fish, pies, mushy peas, etc. The chips are wrapped
in old newspaper. They often ask if you want salt and vinegar to be
sprinkled over your chips. It is traditional to eat fish and chips on a
Friday night, but fish and chips are common throughout the week. People
normally go to a fish and chip shop to buy the food, then take it home to
eat.
Pizza
Like much of the food in
Britain, Pizza comes from another country. Pizza is traditionally from
Italy, however the food has now become very popular in the UK. You can eat
pizza in a restaurant or take it home to eat, you can also have pizza
delivered to your home if you have a local delivery shop.
Curry
Curry is now the most popular food in the UK. It is originally from India,
there are many Indian restaurants in the UK, some where you can stay and
eat, and others which serve takeaway food. It is normally served with
rice. Curry can be a very hot and spicy food, but there are different
types of curry.
Chinese Food
As well as Indian food, the UK has many Chinese restaurants and takeaways.
Chinese food is very popular with British people. However not many British
people can use chopsticks, they prefer to eat from a plate with a knife
and fork.
Pies
A pie is some food surrounded by pastry (pastry is a mixture of flour and
butter). It is normally baked in the oven. The content of the pie can be
sweet or savory. Typical examples of pies are "steak and kidney
pie" or "apple pie". There are variations of the pie such
as Cornish pasties. Pasties were originally invented so that working men
could take their food to work with them. Someone told me that miners in
the Cornish tin mines invented the Cornish pasty. I suppose that if you
work in a mine it is too much trouble to come to the surface to have
lunch.
Special Meals
Christmas
Turkey, Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake.
Pancake Day
Pancakes are made from Flour, milk and eggs, they are eaten with lemon
and sugar or jam.
Drink
Beer is served in
pint glasses. This picture shows Guinness, the most famous Irish beer, a
very dark colour, nearly black. People in the UK drink a lot of tea and
coffee, most people will put milk and sugar into their tea and coffee.
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