The usual meals in Great Britain are break¬fast, lunch and supper. Breakfast is generally a bigger meal than you have on the Continent, though some English people like a 'continental' breakfast of rolls and butter and coffee. But the usual English breakfast is porridge or 'Corn Flakes' with milk or cream and sugar, bacon and eggs; marmalade (made from oranges) with buttered toast, and tea or coffee. For a change (1) you can have a boiled egg, cold ham, or perhaps fish.
All Englishmen generally have lunch about one o'clock. The businessman in London usually finds it impossible to come home for lunch; but if the Englishman is making lunch at home he has cold meat (left over probably from yesterday's dinner), potatoes, salad and pickles (2), with a pudding or fruit to follow. Sometimes he has a mutton chop, or steak and chips, followed by biscuits and cheese, and some people like a glass of light beer with lunch.
Afternoon tea you can hardly call a meal, but it is a sociable sort of thing, as friends often come in then for a chat (3) while they have their cup of tea, cake or biscuit. In some houses dinner is the biggest meal of the day. They begin with soup, followed by fish, roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables, a sweet, fruit and nuts. Then they go into the sitting-room for coffee and the cigarettes. In a great many English homes, they make the mid¬day meal the chief (4) one of the day, and in the evening they have the much simpler supper — an omelettes, or sausages, sometimes bacon and eggs and sometimes just bread and cheese, a cup of coffee or cocoa and fruit.
Tea making in England is an art. The hostess first of all rinses the teapot with boiling water (this is called 'warming the pot') before adding four or five teaspoonfuls of tea. The amount of tea varies, of course, according to the number of people present. The pot is then filled with boiling water and covered by a tea-cosy (5) to allow the tea to infuse (6) for five minutes. English people seldom put lemon juice or rum (7) in their tea, usually they have it with milk.
The English have a special taste for fish and chips. Everybody seems to have fish and chips at home at least once a week and every English town has in its side streets the shop. The pieces of fish are dipped in batter (8) and then dropped into deep boiling oil for a few minutes. They come out crisp (9) and hot and are then wrapped in grease-proof paper (10) and handed to the customer to take away. Attached to some shops is a small cafe where you can eat your fish and chips without taking them home.
Vocabulary
1.for a change - для разнообразия2. pickle - маринованный огурец
3. chat - беседа
4. chief - главный
5. tea-cosy - чехол для чайника
6. to infuse - заваривать чай
7. rum - ром
8. batter - кляр, жидкое тесто
9. crisp - хрустящий
10. grease-proof paper - жиронепроницаемая бумага
Questions
1. What is the difference between meals and meal-times in England and Russia?2. Do Russian national dishes differ from those of English?
3. Why is tea making called an art in England?
4. What does the usual English breakfast consist of?
5. What is the main problem about fish and chips?
Tara de la Motte - English Afternoon Tea Sandwich Recipe Programme.
Этот видеоролик мне представляется весьма поучительным в контексте выбранной темы. Английская домохозяйка Тара де ла Мотт представляет свои рецепты приготовления традиционного английского Afternoon Tea с большим выбором сэндвичей. Она доказывает, что всё это вы можете легко и быстро приготовить и у себя на кухне:
- Я люблю готовить для своей семьи и друзей, придумывать на скорую руку причудливые рецепты. Это мои дети предложил мне поделиться некоторыми из кулинарных идей, выложив их в Интернете, сделать в Сети такую небольшую видеопрограмму собственных рецептов.
К своему ролику Тара приложила историю происхождения церемонии Afternoon Tea, которую я, с благодарностью, публикую на блоге.
The Origins of Afternoon Tea
Tea
One lump or two?Afternoon tea is a civilised affair; it has all the sophistication of smart entertaining but in a relaxed environment - a meal of informal elegance that can be enjoyed in the cozy, relaxed environment of your sitting room or garden.
Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford is often credited with the invention of the tradition of afternoon tea in the early 1840's.
Traditionally dinner was not served until 8:30 or 9:00pm in the evening and the Duchess often became hungry, especially in the summer when dinner was served even later.
She ordered a small meal of bread, butter, and other niceties, such as cakes, tarts, and biscuits, to be brought secretly to her boudoir.
When she was exposed she was not ridiculed, but her habit caught on and the concept of a small meal, of niceties and perhaps tea, became popular and eventually known as "afternoon tea".
Obviously the origins of the well known British tradition of afternoon tea cannot be credited to only one woman, but evolved over a period of time, as many cultural customs do.
How to Serve an Afternoon Tea
Not only does Agatha Christie's quintessentially English detective, Miss Marple, knit and solve crimes but she also serves a traditional afternoon tea to die for! Here's how you can do the same.Select the prettiest, most delicate, china tea service that you own. Make sure your cutlery is gleaming bright. Set the table with a snowy white lacy or linen table cloth. Add matching napkins.
Use tea leaves rather than teabags, if possible, and provide a tea strainer. Set out the essentials. As well as milk and sugar, provide a small dish of thinly sliced lemons. Provide two teapots. One teapot should contain the actual tea. The other one should be filled with hot water.
Serve dainty finger sandwiches, and scones with clotted cream and home made jam, delicate sweet golden crumbly biscuits, mouthwatering slices of buttery, freshly baked cakes and other fancies such as meringues and fruit - filled tartlets..
Have a three-tiered cake stand with sandwiches on the bottom tier, freshly baked scones on the middle tier and a selection of fruitcake and fairy/cream cakes on the top tier. Set out the condiments. Put jam, honey, clotted cream and butter into small individual pots or dishes.
All these delicious treats create the quintessential English teatime experience.
