English Cuisine  Reading

Read and translate this magazine article about English food.

I am always both amused and annoyed when I hear foreign people criticise English food. ‘It’s unimaginative,” they say. It’s boring, it’s tasteless, it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables. “It’s unambitious,” say the French, “all you do is roasts with jam”. We eat apple sauce with pork. That’s the bit they find really shocking, but then the French are easily shocked by things that aren’t French.

When I ask these visitors where they have experienced English cooking, I am astonished by their reply. “In Wimpy Bars and McDonald’s Hamburger restaurants,” they often say. I have won my case. Their conclusions are inexcusable.

I have a theory about English cooking, and I was interested to read that several famous cookery writers agree with me. My theory is this. Our basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that we haven’t had to invent sauces and complex recipes to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled (not overboiled) and served with butter? Why drown spring lamb in wine or cream or yoghurt and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?

It is interesting to speculate what part factors such as geography and climate play in the creation of a country’s food. We complain about our wet and changeable weather, but it is the rain which gives us such rich soil and green grass. “Abroad,” says Jane Grigson, “poor soils meant more searching for food, more discovery, more invention, whereas our ancestors sat down to plenty without having to take trouble”.

If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips” and then stop. It is disappointing, but true, that there is no tradition in England of eating in restaurants because our food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found in the home, where it is possible to time the dishes to perfection. So it is difficult to find a good English restaurant with reasonable prices.

It is for these reasons that we haven’t exported our dishes, but we have imported the surprising number all over the world. In most cities in Britain you’ll find Indian, Chinese, French, and Italian restaurants. In London you’ll also find Indonesian, Lebanese, Iranian, German, Spanish, Mexican, Greek . . . Cynics will say that this is because we have no “cuisine” ourselves, but, well, you know what I think!

Comprehension check

• What do you think influences a country’s food?

• Which of these titles do you think is best?

1. Fish and Chips against the world!

2. Cosmopolitan English cooking

3. In defence of English cooking

4. Freshness is best in the English kitchen

5. English food: Facts or Myth?

• What is the author’s main point about English food?

• Why doesn’t he agree with foreign people’s criticism of English food?

• What is the comparison that Jane Gridiron makes?

• Why are there few English restaurants?

• What do you think?

• What kind of person wrote this article? What makes you think so?

• Who do you think Jane Grigson is?

• “I have won my case.” (Line 9) What does this mean?

• Do you agree with this article? Read it again and mark it like this.

I agree	+
I don’t agree	─
I find this surprising	!!
I don’t understand this	?

• Summarize each paragraph in one or two sentences.

Grammar exercises

Part A. Look at line 5 of the article. What’s the difference between shocking and shocked?

Which	Describes the person’s reaction? Is passive?
Which	Describes the action? Is active?

Some verbs which describe people’s feelings have two adjectival forms.

E.g. to shock / shocked / I was shocked by the news.

To shock / shocking / The news was shocking.

Part B. Find other words like this in the article. Sometimes only one of the two is there, but you can write both in the columns. Note: These are only words that tell us about people’s feelings (not words like ‘cooking’).

Part C. Use the “-ing” adjectives below to complete the sentences which follow.

ageing existing drawing increasing living rising

1. The main problem is …....... prices. Things are getting much too expensive.

2. Factories in Japan are becoming even more automated, making …...... use of robots.

3. Things will have to change. The …...... system simply doesn’t work.

4. Mohammed Ali, the former heavyweight champion of the world, has been described as a …...... legend.

5. The young folks have all gone. There is no one left in the village apart from a few …........ people.

6. Unemployment is on the increase. A …............ number of young people, in particular, are finding themselves out of work.

Part D. Use the “-ed” adjectives below to complete the definitions which follow.

alarmed amused astonished bored depressed satisfied

1. When you find something funny, you are …......... by it.

2. If something makes you sad and unhappy, you feel ….......... .

3. If you are …........... , you feel very surprised.

4. If something makes you very worried, you are …......... by it.

5. If you are reasonably content with something, you feel …........ .

6. When you are ….... , you feel tired and impatient because you have nothing to do.

Part E. The following words are in the text. Use your dictionary to find the other parts of speech. Check the pronunciation. Add the words of your own.

Noun	Adjective	Verb	Noun	Verb	Noun	Adjective
creation				agree		famous
	basic			invent	theory
conclusion				complain	tradition
			discovery			possible
			preparation

Part F. Put one suitable adjective (-ed or –ing ) into each gap.

1. The book was so…........... that I couldn’t put it down.

2. The students were …........... the lesson and really fell asleep.

3. John told some very….......... stories. We couldn’t stop laughing.

4. “You look ….......... to see me!” “I am. I thought you were in China!”

5. She is very …......... in modern art. She reads all the books she can about it.

6. Your exam results are…........... . I thought you would do much better.

7. Please stop tapping your fingers. I find it very…........... .

Part G. Complete the following pairs of sentences using the correct form of the verb in brackets. You must use the “-ed” form for one sentence in each pair and the “-ing” form for the other.

1. a) I had nothing to do. I was …........ and lonely. (bore)

b) I had only one book with me but I didn’t read it. It was so …......... .

2. a) I enjoyed Dr Brown’s visit. He is a very…......... speaker. (interest)

b) We invited them to join us, but they weren’t really …......... .

3. a) The bad news was very …........ . (depress)

b) It was a bad day. We were all thoroughly …............ .

4. a) I enjoyed the film. The monster was absolutely …........ . (terrify)

b) We were told there was a bomb in the building. Everyone was absolutely …....... .

5. a) We were rather ….......... with the results. (disappoint)

b) The results were very …............. .

6. a) We were dreadfully late. It was very …......... . (embarrass)

b) George made a perfect fool of himself. He was awfully …......... .

7. a) Jack looked even more ….......... than he felt. (amaze)

b) She is a brilliant woman. She has the most …......... ideas.

8. a) Have you heard what’s happened? Isn’t it …........... ? (excite)

b) Mary looked calm, but inside she felt really ….......... .

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