What is ‘American’ food? The answer is that it is part Italian, part British, part German, part Mexican, part Chinese. When people from other countries came to live in the US, they brought different cooking traditions. Some of them opened restaurants and food stores, and today Americans enjoy food from all over the world.
Over the years, some foreign dishes changed a little. ‘Tex-Mex’ food is popular in Texas and other states in the Southwest. But it is not quite the same as the Mexican food you will find in Mexico. Doughnuts were originally from Holland. But doughnuts with a hole in the middle are American. In 1847 a young boy complained to his mother that het doughnuts were never cooked in the middle. He cut out the centers and his mother cooked them – and they were delicious!
Maybe the US is most famous for ‘fast foods’. The first fast food restaurants served hamburgers, but now they serve other kinds of food as well. Many fast food restaurants have a drive-in section. Here you can order and pick up your food without even getting out of your car! Inside there is often a ‘salad bar’, where you can help yourself to as much salad as you want.
Americans eat out a lot, and when they go to a restaurant, they don’t expect to be hungry afterwards. Most restaurants will put a lot of food on your plate – sometimes it can be too much. But if you can’t finish it all, don’t worry: the waiter will bring you a ‘doggy bag’ and you can take it home with you.
Busy people don’t have a lot of time to cook at home, and so snack and convenience foods are becoming more popular. Most Americans now have a light breakfast instead of the traditional eggs, bacon, toast, hashbrown potatoes, orange juice, and coffee. But on weekends there is more time, and a large late breakfast or early lunch (‘brunch’) is often eaten with family or friends. And if guests come to lunch or dinner, the hosts will make something special. It might be Mexican enchiladas, Japanese sushi, or Italian lasagna – or it might be good old American steak.
Many people take a bottle of wine or some flowers when they are invited to dinner at someone’s home. At a ‘pot luck’ dinner, all guests bring something to eat. You should ask your hosts what kind of food they would like you to bring. Usually it is a salad, vegetable or a dessert. When you are invited to dinner, it is usual to arrive ten or fifteen minutes late. It gives the hosts time to finish their preparations.
Tasks
1. Read the text for detailed understanding. Translate the following passages of the text: 1-2, 4-5.
2. Give the summary of the text.
3. Retell the text as if you were:
1) an owner of the fast-food restaurant;
2) a Russian student in America;
3) a British student in America.
Dialog A
Anne is a schoolgirl; James is a schoolboy; Mr Jones is a businessman; and Miss Eccles is a cook.
Anne: I never want any breakfast. Just a cup of tea and a piece of toast…
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James: I don’t eat much either. Just some cornflakes, and an egg, and coffee, and toast and marmalade.
Anne: I call that a huge breakfast!
James: No, it isn’t! Anyhow, I haven’t time for any more during the week when I have to get to school.
Mr Jones: Well, what do you have at the weekend, James?
James: Oh, on Sundays it’s different. I have orange juice, then porridge, with sugar and cream, and bacon and sausages — and scrambled eggs, of course — and coffee and toast and honey.
Anne: What do you have, Mr Jones?
Mr Jones: Oh! I never change, I always have the same; bacon and eggs. And coffee, of course.
Miss Eccles: But you don’t have to cook it yourself, do you?
Mr Jones: Well, no. My wife cooks the breakfast. She cooks the most perfect bacon and eggs in the world! I can smell them cooking, while I’m shaving. I just couldn’t start the day in any other way!
Miss Eccles: You’re lucky. I have to cook other people’s breakfasts. I never eat any myself. Just half a grapefruit and a cup of tea for me.
Anne: You’re like me. I can’t think how people eat those great huge meals at eight o’clock in the morning!
Mr Jones: You see, James, women always want to keep fit. They’re afraid of getting fat…
Miss Eccles: There’s just one thing: sometimes, when I’m on holiday, I have a special treat…
Mr Jones: And what’s that?
Miss Eccles: A lovely, fat, juicy kipper!
James: Oh, I’d forgotten about kippers! They’re the best of all!
Tasks:
1. Read the dialog for detailed understanding.
2. Retell the dialog, as if you are one of the participants.
3. Act out your own dialog on the analogy.
Dialog B
Ann and Fred are newly-weds, Jane, a group mate of theirs, comes on a visit to them.
Ann: Good morning, Jane. Come in, please.
Jane: I hope Fred is at home?
Ann: Yes, he is. So nice of you to have come. We are about to have dinner. Will you dine with us?
Jane: With great pleasure.
Ann: That’s fine. I’m off to lay the table. Excuse me, please.
Jane: By all means.
(At table)
Jane: It’s good to be in a company like this, I admit.
Ann: Let me help you to some salad, Jane.
Jane: Please, do. It looks so inviting. That’s quite enough, thank you.
Ann: Some soup, Jane?
Jane: Why, yes. I think I could manage a plateful.
Ann: How do you find the salad?
Jane: Awfully nice. I have never tasted such a lovely salad; will you tell me how you make it?
Ann: I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it and it’s very nice of you to say so. It is quite easy to make. I’ll write down the ingredients and the directions for mixing.
Jane: Thank you very much. Don’t you think it’s lovely, Fred?
Fred: Yes, it is, indeed. Kindly pass me the salt, Ann, will you?
Ann: Here you are. Some more bread, Fred?
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Fred: Yes, please. What comes next, Annie?
Ann: Chops with roast potatoes and vegetables.
Fred: And what follows that?
Ann: Wouldn’t you like to make a guess?
Fred: Ice-cream, I suppose.
Ann: There you are wrong, Fred, it’s coffee.
Jane: Coffee? It’s just to my taste.
Ann: I am happy that I’ve suited your taste, Jane. Do you take milk in your coffee?
Jane: Yes, I like it milky.
Fred: Well, Jane, what about fruit?
Jane: I’d be delighted.
Tasks
1. Read the dialog for detailed understanding.
2. Retell the dialog, as if you are one of the participants.
3. Act out your own dialog on the analogy.
Dialog C
Mrs Smith: Hello, Mrs Brown! How nice of you to drop in! I’m so glad to see you.
Mrs Brown: Hi, Mrs Smith! How are you?
Mrs Smith: Fine! Jane and I are just having a cup of tea. Do join us!
Mrs Brown: With great pleasure! I’ve been doing some shopping, and I am a bit thirsty. I’d enjoy a cup with you.
Mrs Smith: Jane, lay the table for Mrs Brown and bring some fresh buns and rolls from the pantry. I haven’t any cake to offer you today, Mrs Brown, but I can treat you to a wide choice of jams, I’ve made this year.
Mrs Brown: Sounds absolutely fantastic! I’m especially fond of strawberry and black currant.
Mrs Smith: Me too. Jane prefers cherry. And we always have several jars of raspberry jam in the house in case of colds.
Mrs Brown: It’s surely a good remedy.
Mrs Smith: Strong or weak tea, Mrs Brown?
Mrs Brown: Weak, please. What tasty buns you're having here! Are they from the baker’s?
Mrs Smith: Jane did the baking today. She likes cooking a lot.
Mrs Brown: Would you mind telling me the recipe?
Mrs Smith: Most willingly. All you need is a few cups of flour, some shortening (fat), a little yeast, four egg-yolks, a glass of milk and sugar. You knead the dough stiff, and then cut it up into tiny buns. When the dough has risen, you bake the buns in a hot oven for 20-25minutes.
Mrs Brown: Oh, it’s rather quick and not much trouble. Served with tea, they are delicious.
Mrs Smith: Help yourself to some more, Mrs Brown.
Mrs Brown: They’re just wonderful with strawberry jam.
Mrs Smith: Have another, my dear! And won’t you have another cup of tea?
Mrs Brown: Thank you.
Tasks
1. Read the dialog for detailed understanding.
2. Retell the dialog, as if you are one of the participants.
3. Act out your own dialog on the analogy.
Vocabulary
Food and drink
1) hospitable – гостеприимный
2) to invite – приглашать
3) anticipation – ожидание
4) wasteful – расточительный
5) precious – драгоценный
6) food – пища, съестные припасы
7) ham – ветчина
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8) meat – мясо
9) egg – яйцо
10) scrambled eggs – яичница
11) honey – мёд
12) porridge – овсяная каша
13) cornflakes – кукурузные хлопья
14) buttered toast – подрумяненный хлеб с маслом
15) potatoes – картофель
16) sausage – колбаса
17) vegetables – овощи
18) juice, juicy – сок, сочный
19) cream – сливки
20) pastry – печенье, выпечка
21) tinned fish – рыбные консервы
22) kipper – копченая рыба
23) fat, shortening – жир, добавляемый в тесто для рассыпчатости
24) buns, rolls – булочки
25) strawberry – клубника
26) black currant – черная смородина
27) raspberry jam – малиновое варенье
28) strong tea – крепкий чай
29) weak tea – слабый чай
30) yeast – дрожжи
31) soft drinks – прохладительные напитки
32) spirits – спиртные напитки
33) strong drinks – крепкие напитки
Meals
1) meal – пища, прием пищи
2) to sip a drink – потягивать (медленно пить) напиток
3) to eat out – обедать (ужинать) в ресторане (кафе,…)
4) tiny – крошечный
5) “first course”/”starter” – первое блюдо
6) “main course” – главное блюдо
7) “sweet course”/dessert – десерт
8) to heap – много накладывать
9) to feel hungry – быть голодным
10) to stick to – придерживаться чего-либо
11) to offer – предлагать
12) to spread the drink out – разносить/раздавать напитки
13) snack – легкая закуска (to have a snack – перекусить)
14) “pot luck” dinner – обед «в складчину» (когда все гости приносят салаты и/или сладкие блюда)
15) to clear up – убирать со стола
16) to lay the table – накрывать на стол
17) to serve the dishes – подавать блюда
18) tasty, delicious – вкусный
19) to cook – готовить
20) to dine – обедать
21) to get fat – полнеть
22) to treat smb to smth – угощать кого-либо чем-либо
23) to taste – пробовать
24) white coffee, black coffee – кофе с молоком, черный кофе
25) to be thirsty – испытывать жажду
26) a good remedy – хорошее средство
27) to do the baking – печь
28) dough – тесто (достаточно круто замешанное), to knead the stiff – круто замесить тесто, batter – жидкое тесто (для блинов, оладьев и некоторых видов тортов)
29) pantry – кладовая
30) hot oven – горячая духовка
31) reasonable price – приемлемая цена
32) to grate – натереть на терке, grater – терка
33) to mince – молоть, mincer – мясорубка
34) to chop – крошить/резать кусочками или кубиками
35) to slice – нарезать тонкими ломтиками
Conversational formulas:
Help yourself to – угощайтесь
It looks so inviting – выглядит так аппетитно
I could manage a plateful – я бы съел целую тарелку
It’s just to my taste – это мне по вкусу
Pass me…– передайте…