A main course for a meal, in which beef is combined with a crisp batter pudding. It is widely believed that the dish was invented by frugal housewives in the north of England who were reluctant to see wasted the meat juices which fell into the dripping-pan beneath the spit. To make the accompanying Yorkshire pudding, a flour-egg-milk batter is poured into the roasting pan beneath the beef about half-an-hour before the end of the cooking time. In early forms, the pudding was commonly made the same size as the plate for the whole meal, in order to fill diners so that they would need to eat less meat. Yorkshire pudding is generally cited in cookery books and restaurant guides as an example of “traditional” English cooking.
Discussion
- Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding are examples of “traditional” English cooking. Can you give such examples of “traditional” cooking in your country?
- Is there a common characteristic, or set of common characteristics, witch consistently provides a basis for defining something as “British”?
- Try to explore the notion of “Britishness” by giving other examples of “what makes something “British” (cricket, talking about weather, etc.)
Fish and Chips
A common and cheap British meal, usually eaten as a take-away, and often in grease-proof paper or old newspaper wrapping by fish and chip shops, witch only in a minority of cases provide seating for eating on the premises. As a meal, fish and chips has fairly strong working class associations, and rarely appears in guides to British cooking (where it is displaced by less common fish-based and seafood dishes).
The chips served in fish and chip shops tend to be larger, and cooked in more oil, than French fries served by global burger restaurant chains. With the exception of parts of coastal Spain and Portugal (mainly for British tourists) and in Australia and New Zealand, “fish and chips” is not served in an analogous way in countries other than Britain.
Chinese restaurants
Chinese food is a widely distributed and popular cuisine, not only in metropolitan centres but also in small towns, villages, and local housing estates. Most Chinese restaurants combine dining on the premises with a take-away service (in Scotland called “carry out”). Expert in more up-market cases, British Chinese restaurants typically blur the distinction between the various regional styles of Chinese cooking (Cantonese, Sichuan, etc), and are highly selective in the type and range of dishes offered. In many cases, Chinese cooking is adapted to suit a local palate (and often fish and chips are available on the menu under a separate heading, “Western dishes”).
Over the last three decades, the popularity of British Chinese restaurants has expanded from primarily the cheaper end of the restaurant range into the full spectrum of menus and kinds of décor, including expensive, Westernised nouvelle cuisine restaurants.
Discussion
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- Speak on the advantages and disadvantages of dining out.
- Some restaurants provide regional and ethnic specialities, such as Oriental egg rolls, Mexican tacos, American-style Indian pizza. What are the “rituals” in Chinese restaurants?
- The popularity of British Chinese restaurants has expanded over the three decades. Speak on the reasons for their becoming so popular.
- If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips.” What makes them think so?
- What do you think influences the country's food?
British Cuisine
Some people criticize English food. They say it's unimaginable, boring, tasteless, it's chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. The basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that British haven't had to invent sauces to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh pees or new potatoes just boiled and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?
If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say "Fish and chips" then stop. It is disappointing, but true that, there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants, because the food doesn't lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found at home. So it is difficult to a good English restaurant with a reasonable prices.
In most cities in Britain you'll find Indian, Chinese, French and Italian restaurants. In London you'll also find Indonesian, Mexican, Greek... Cynics will say that this is because English have no "cuisine" themselves, but this is not quite the true.
Discussion:
1.What do foreigners say when they criticize English food?
2. Do English people use a lot of sauces?
3. From a foreigner's point of view, what typically English dishes?
4. Do all English eat in restaurants?
5. What kind of restaurants can you find in Britain?
6. Is it true that English have no cuisine?
5. Read, translate and retell: